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Opportunity Is Immense for Muskies!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
3/24/2008
Xavier wore their "3" seed well in the NCAA Tournament opening weekend. There were dicey moments in the wins over Georgia and Purdue, but XU handled the adversity as a deep cohesive veteran team should -- with calmness and hard work.
Georgia, a CBS-crowned Cinderella from a huge TV market (Atlanta), played like a tornado early on, leading by 9 at the half and by 11 with 17 minutes left in regulation. That prompted CBS to flash a graphic -- last 14-3 upset: Northwest State over Iowa in 2006. Boom!! That was the magic elixir!!
The Bulldogs hit the inevitable emotional and physical wall assisted by superior Xavier depth and size and defense. X outscored the Dawgs by 23 the rest of the way (38-15) playing their best basketball since early January.
Big men Josh Duncan and Derrick Brown dominated. Drew Lavender showed all his point guard wares finally putting the pesky ankle injury in the rear-view mirror.
Defense fueled offense. Frosh Dante Jackson pulled up off a fast break and swished a perfect form "3" putting the Muskies ahead for good 52-49. X 73, GA 61.
The Muskies started tentatively Saturday against a young but talented and together Purdue team. The Baby Boilers bolted out of the gate 9-0 but X quickly reeled them in.
Purdue made a second half run and took a brief 61-60 lead but XU shook off the punch and rammed the ball inside instead of panicking with quick 3 pointers.
B.J. Raymond posted up for a field goal and one followed by CJ Anderson with a rare pull-up floater. Lavender took over from there-controlling the clock in the halfcourt and canning 8 straight free throws. It was the Drew Delay game at its pre-ankle injury finest.
X scored 85 against a good defensive team - a team that beat Wisconsin twice and Michigan State once.
The Muskies called on different heroes than the Georgia win. C.J. Anderson took it to the glass with passion scoring 18 with 7 rebounds. Lavender was dominant with 18 points and 9 assists. X 85 Purdue 78.
Neither win was easy, but neither win was at all lucky. Xavier did not play flawlessly nor did they play over their heads. This team is still looking to play its best 40 minutes.
Key trends in my opinion: XU outscored both Georgia and Purdue by mega-points from the foul line. The Muskies did not live or die by the three point shot and they got better as the game went along closing both games out in full control of the ball and the clock.
What should Muskie fans expect in this week's Regional at Phoenix?? West Virginia, the 7 seed, "upset" Duke, the 2 seed, to advance. Ever since watching the Dookies in person at the Maui Classic I've written that this was not a great Duke team. Too many tweeners, too much reliance on the 3 pointer, not a tough rebounding group. WVA exploited those weakness and won going away 73-67.
We all know about Bob Huggins. Give him credit! He is a basketball game winning machine and he's taken John Beilein's light cavalry roster and taught them to play tenacious man to man defense. Since the Mountaineers' ugly 62-39 loss to UC in Morgantown in late January.
Huggs has driven his team to an 11-4 record. The losses have come at Pitt on a buzzer beater "3" - at Villanova (NCAA Sweet 16), at UConn(NCAA) and at Madison Square Garden to Georgetown(NCAA 2 seed) in the Big East tourney semis.
WVA has bought into Huggins' defensive focus. They have de-emphasized the 3 pointer. Huggs played the two point guards ( Nichols and Mazzulla) a lot together against Arizona and Duke and West Virginia attacked the basket much more.
Joe Alexander is a First Team Big East player who can score inside and outside. Alex Ruoff is a great spot-up 3 point shooter. They pounded Duke on the boards 47-27. So much for being undersized!!
The Mounties have experience and decent depth and they have momentum.
The Muskies trump them in every category, though, at least by slight margins. Xavier's 3 seniors are on a mission. As an extra bonus, Stanley Burrell may be rediscovering some offensive mojo. X is bigger inside plus they have players to slow down Alexander and Ruoff and X has just as much momentum.
Bracket history shows 3 seeds with a 7-3 record against 7 seeds over the years. I'm taking Xavier in a battle royale.
#1 seed UCLA plays Western Kentucky (12 seed) in Phoenix also. The Bruins dodged their early bullett by just beating Texas A&M, 51-49. WKU has nice wins over Drake and San Diego, but they beat smaller quicker perimeter oriented teams.
UCLA has Kevin Love and company inside and the Hilltoppers may be short on answers. UCLA has history on its side. One seeds are 13-0 against 12 seeds.
In an XU-UCLA Elite 8 match-up anything could happen. Checking the historicals UCLA is no lock. 3 seeds are 12-13 against 1 seeds dating back to 1985.
I like those odds for a trip to San Antonio!!!
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