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Busy Demanding Week!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
2/6/2008
The win over LaSalle (75-62 last Saturday at Cintas) put Xavier in a pretty good position (18-4 overall, 6-1 in the Atlantic 10, tied for first with Saint Joe's, 13th in the AP Poll, 14th in the Coaches' with an RPI of 15). X was mentioned in Sports Illustrated even though Stanley Burrell was identified as "Scotty" by S.I. The aforementioned Mr. Burrell took the lead in putting a stubborn LaSalle team away in the second half. Over the last 6 minutes Stanley made all 8 of his free throws, chipped in a steal and a rebound, and completed his lock-up job on Explorer 3-point sniper Darnell Harris. Harris finshed with 4 points -- 12 below his average.
Harris missed all 4 of his long range shots. He usually makes 4 a game outside the arc. X played the balance game with 6 scoring in double figures.
C.J. Anderson thrived against a more athletic driving team (16 points-7 rebounds) while B.J. Raymond struggled against bigger guards to get his shot off (1-9) but still canned a crucial "3" with X up 59-54 and 7:40 left. That was a back breaker for LU.
It's no secret X can struggle defensively against bigger guards and wings (Arizona State, Tennessee, Temple and La Salle). What a scoop!! Everybody has trouble with big quick guys who can drive and not turn the ball over easily. This week presents more challenges in that area.
XU's 6-1 conference record is excellent, but all 6 wins come against the bottom 8 teams in the league. The Muskies are 0-1 against teams with a plus .500 A-10 record (loss at Temple). Now the schedule really gets harder with 4 of the next 6 away from Cintas (at St Louis, Charlotte, Rhode Island and Dayton) plus home dates against St Joe's and Duquesne. Xavier may be in second place when they take the floor Thursday night at Saint Louis.
St Joe's plays at Duquesne Wednesday evening. SJU has won 6 in a row and 11 of 12. Their RPI has climbed to 41. The Hawks pasted Big 5 rival Villanova, 77-55, at the Palestra Monday. Both veteran inside guys Rob Ferguson and Ahmad Nivins tweaked ankles in that game. Neither injury looked that serious. But it's bad timing for SJU. They are playing 5 games over 8 days winding up Sunday at Cintas against XU.
X has a nasty hurdle to clear Thursday. SLU is playing stingy half court defense under Rick Majerus. If they combine that defense with halfway decent shooting, the Billikens are hard to beat at Scotttrade Center. Their last time out they controlled tempo against UMass and beat the Minutemen 71-59. Overall SLU is 12-9,3-4 in the league. At home they are 9-3,2-2 in the A-10 with wins over URI and UMass and 2 overtime losses to Dayton and Temple.
Majerus has veteran talent and they seem to be warming to his style. Majerus is an unusual character as the recent Sports Illustrated novelette details. He's stubborn and demanding and he's won everywhere he's coached (Marquette, Ball State, Utah). His charge is to retool SLU basketball and get the buzz going so they sell-out their new on-campus arena which opens next season. A win over Top 25 Xavier would help speed up the process.
They're passing out 10,000 "Blue-Out" T-shirts in hopes of creating a crazy atmosphere for Thursday night's ESPN2 audience. SLU wanted XU to wear their home white uniforms so the Billiken players could go blue and be one with the crowd. Sean Miller refused to play along. X will don the dark blue road unis.
The Muskies have lost 3 of 4 against SLU since they joined the A-10 two years ago including both games at St Louis. Only 7 footer Ian Voyukas is missing from the SLU line-up and 7 footer Bryce Husak (#44) has been playing well lately to fill that void. Hard working lefty Luke Meyer(#32) mans a forward spot. He rebounds and makes free throws.
The Bills start 3 guards. The point is 5-9 Dwayne Polk (#00). The wings are lefty Kevin Lisch (#21) and slasher Tommy Liddell (#25). Lisch made the All A-10 defensive team last season and Liddell was second team All League. 6-4 Danny Brown comes off the bench. He is a Majerus favorite and dinged UMass for 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Xavier has started very slowly the last two years at St Louis and shot the ball poorly. Another slow start could be fatal. Majerus would be happy to win the game in the 40's or 50's. X needs to attack and push the tempo up. They're deeper and bigger and must force the ball inside.
Husak and Meyer have to be exploited down low. SLU has had some horrible shooting games but usually they are on the road.
A win in St Louis sets the table for a first place showdown Sunday at Cintas against Saint Joe's.
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