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Muskies Take Efficient Offense to Amherst!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
2/4/2010
Xavier swept three games at home recently (W's over URI, Duquesne and Fordham). The defense was rock solid (61, 50 and 60 points allowed) plus the offense blossomed (72, 85 and 108 points scored). It wasn't all Jordan Crawford either! The inside game became a three-headed monster with Jason Love, Jamel McLean and Kenny Frease all scoring close to the basket and at the foul line. Fast break lay-ups have been much more plentiful. 3 point shooting has become much more selective. Better shots have led to a higher percentage. The team free throw numbers have climbed steadily also. Assists have risen and turnovers have dropped. It's a rosey picture which adds up to a much more efficient offense.
Contested jumpers inside the arc and corkscrew shots in heavy traffic are going away. Bad possessions (one shot and done) and empty possessions (no shot at all) are being minimized. That formula worked at Cintas. Anything the Muskies try works at Cintas seemingly (21 straight home wins).
And, as luck would have it,the efficient offense clicked against UMass Wednesday night in Amherst. The first half was textbook!! X led 50-33. They shot 65%. The Big Guys flourished-getting any shot they wanted against a team with a marginal post presence.
The fastbreak produced a ton of lay-ups and the open "3's" went in. The Muskies put together a season-high 18 point run. It was too good to be true on the road though.
UMass isn't NCAA caliber yet but coach Derek Kellogg is working on it using John Calipari's formula. His freshman group is rambunctious and athletic. I knew they would make a second half run. Give Kellogg two more recruiting classes and watch out. He apparently is bringing in a high profile point guard from DC Assault (legendary AAU program and source of much K-State talent for Frank Martin).
Anyway, XU lost the 17 point lead-fell behind 69-68 with 5 minutes left then let Jordan Crawford take over. He buried two long "3s" and Jamel McLean completed a traditional 3 point play. A 9 point run!! XU led 77-69 with 2:48 left. They won 87-79.
Bad stuff happens on the road. Xavier now can bring enough fire power and depth and effort to bear to overcome most road adversity. They've weathered emotional home floor spurts at La Salle, GW and now UMass - gathered themselves and closed victories out.
It gets tougher Saturday at Dayton (Noon -ESPN2). The Flyers lost at XU 78-74 three weeks back then dropped back to back 1 point games at St.Joe's and vs Rhode Island at UD Arena (snapped Dayton's 30 game homecourt win streak). Saturday UD righted the ship with a 75-58 victory at St. Bonnies. They are 15-6 overall, 4-3 in the A-10.
It looks like 7 teams are fighting for four First Round A-10 Tourney Byes and maybe 4 NCAA slots. Xavier is 8-1; Temple and Charlotte are 7-1; URI and Richmond are 6-2; UD and Saint Louis are 4-3. It may take 12-4 or at worst 11-5 to grab a bye. Thus Dayton is desperate for a win. The Flyers may be favored.
They murdered X on the boards at Cintas 51-31 with a huge edge on the offensive glass. Their star Chris Wright played just 14 minutes because of foul trouble. They have the Flyer Faithful plus that rabid student section plus a really deep athletic team with 4 seniors on the roster.
Maybe Jordan Crawford was lucky to bury those off-balance jumpers and long "3s" that sunk UD in Cincy? I don't think so because that's just how he plays, but I may be wrong.
X can expect better play from Mark Lyons. He was fresh off a sore knee in Game 1. Jamel McLean should be more of a factor too along with Kenny Frease. Both have played well since Dayton 1.
Dayton 3 point specialist Luke Fabrizius has been slowed by a sore knee. XU beat UD back to back in Dayton in 2007 and 2008 with Drew Lavender carving up their press and controlling the last few minutes. Terrell Holloway is playing at or near Lavender's level. The end game press break against URI was a thing of beauty!!
And don't forget Dante Jackson!! He was MVP of the first Dayton win. He plays his best in these emotional Mythical Miami Valley Conference games.
This game is a toss-up. X has seen it all on the road. They're ready to beat a really good team away from Cintas and Dayton qualifies. I hope Dayton fans treat Chris Mack with respect and don't make a huge deal out of the Wes Coffee incident when Chris was a player at Evansville.
If they do act boorishly, I hope XU players just focus on what would hurt the Faithful most -- strapping a BIG OLD UGLY "L" on their beloved Flyers.
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