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Atlantic City Diary: Early Exit Again!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
3/14/2008
Xavier's packing up early again and heading back to Cincy to await Selection Sunday. This season, even Jay Bilas must agree the Muskies belong in the field of 65. XU's 61-53 A-10 tourney loss to a desperate St Joe's team puts the Muskies' seed in question though. Forget about a "2"! Maybe a "3" is a reach now, but a"4" seems plausible to me. X's resume remains strong with a lofty RPI and strength of schedule, a sparkling 27-6 overall record, road wins galore, an 8-2 record over the last 10 games and a well regarded national reputation.
Last season XU lost here in the Semis to a talented Rhode Island team that got shutout of the NCAA tourney. This year SJU should get in after two wins over nationally rated Xavier in 8 days.
The A-10 has to be downright giddy. They may get 3 teams in the NCAA. X is an at-large lock. The conference tourney winner earns an automatic berth and if Temple wins that auto bid, very possibly the Saint Joe's Hawks sneak in as an at-large also. It will be close but it would be a great financial bonanza for the conference.
The Hawks contested every shot against XU, limiting the Muskies to a mere 20 points in the first half. It was tied 20-20 when Stanley Burrell sat down with 2 fouls and 4:50 remaining on the first half clock. Eight minutes later, 3 minutes into the second half, Xavier trailed 35-20-a brutal scoring drought XU could never recover from.
Credit the SJU defense!! Their big guards gave the Muskies trouble. Their inside guys made close shots an adventure. X endured many shotless possessions including 3 shot clock violations in the first half.
X made just 1 of 14 three pointers and totaled just 8 assists. The Hawks reduced a normally potent offense (76 PPG) to toast (53 points). BJ Raymond,a 43% shooter from beyond the arc, went 0-for-7. It was an offensive nightmare.
X did outrebound the Hawks 35-26 so the effort wasn't lacking, but SJU playd harder even it was their third game in three days.
Saint Joe's did just enough in the second half to keep X at arm's length. They played keep away with long possessions and let 6-9 swing man Pat Calathes be their offense. He scored 24, lobbing in several long "3s" just as the shot clock was expiring.
Xavier showed pluck cutting the SJU lead to five at 54-49 with 1:15 to play, but that was it.
An ugly Semi-Final loss here in AC takes a bit of luster off the Xavier resume, but gives the Muskies more rest for the NCAA and may give Sean Miller more mental fodder to gain his team's undivided attention. It worked last year. XU played two crisp sharp efficient NCAA games beating BYU and taking Ohio State to the brink before losing in OT.
A fall to a "4" seed may be the price Xavier pays. Still the Round One NCAA game should be very winnable with a 5-12 winner in the second round and a decent chance to advance to the second weekend. A "4" seed should give Xavier a decent placement geographically -- maybe in Washington DC??
Coach Miller might do well to bulk erase all video evidence of the Saint Joe's game though. It's not suitable for any audience, animal, vegetable, or mineral.
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