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Old Year Concludes with a Big Bang!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
1/1/2008
I figured Xavier would outplay K-State in the backcourt and probably beat the Wildcats New Year's Eve at USB Arena; but, a 103-77 blow-out exceeded expectations. The Muskie guards did dominate! Drew Lavender shrugged off K-St's lame attempts to beat him up - scored 21 and popped for 7 straight points right before halftime to ward off the Wildcat's one weak run. (X actually salted the game away with a 14-0 start).
Stanley Burrell scored an unselfish 12 plus 8 assists and aided Drew in carving up Kansas State's porous man defense. X put 7 players into double figures in scoring and zoomed past the 100 point mark for the first time since 2000. K-State may get their act together and win 8 to 10 games in the Big 12. They are dripping with size and sheer talent.
My hope was X would fight K-St to a draw up front and win the game at the free throw line and with guard play, but Muskie Big Guys continued to excel as they did against Tennessee. X won the rebound battle. They scored more points in the paint and limited man child Michael Beasley to 5 points on 1-6 shooting.
Beasley is a Beast and will be a great pro but X was ready. They took away his left hand and pushed him off his favorite scoring spots. They ran offense right at him and he struggled with foul problems and his emotions.
Derrick Brown was clearly the best NBA prospect on the court from my perspective. Jason Love and Josh Duncan had better all-court games than Beasley on this night. X was the clear aggressor against a team that makes it's living pounding the ball inside.
The crowd was dissappointing with no Huggins factor. Too bad the game couldn't have been moved to Cintas. X is thriving, though, at USB with 7 straight wins (4 in the A-10 tournament, 2006 plus 2 wins over K-State, and one over Illinois).
2008 opens with a terrific opportunity Thursday night at Cintas. Virginia is in town from the ACC. The Cavaliers are 10-2 and on the cusp of the Top 25. UVA tied for the ACC regular season title at 11-5 last season and went to the NCAA tournament.
Most of their main parts are back. Sean Singletary, their senior point guard, may be the best in the country (18ppg, 6.5 assists, 4 rebounds). Their other senior leader is 6-foot-7 forward Adrian Joseph (13ppg, 8 rebounds). Dave Leitao, their 3rd year coach, plays 11 guys 10 plus minutes a game. He has no monsters size-wise but UVA's depth rivals Tennessee. They may be a bit less athletic than the Vols but they are more solid defensively and more consistent on the boards.
Virginia outscores the opposition by 15 ppg and outrebounds by 14. They shoot a solid 46% from the field and 71% from the line and sport four players who make over 40% from 3-point range.
Singeltary is the star, but "team" is their theme. Low turnovers, stubborn defense, good ball movement, aggressive board work, well coached, well prepared -- these traits sum up UVA. Duke, North Carolina, and Clemson may have more sheer talent than the Cavs, but Virginia makes the most of what they have and competes with the household names.
X can't be awed and can't fold down the stretch as they did against Tennessee. The inside game must continue to flourish as it has against Tennessee and K-State. This has all the makings of a tight to the wire buzzer beater. UVA owns a nice early road win at Arizona, but UA was a bit unsettled in November because of the Lute Olsen situation. Virginia has lost on a neutral court to Seton Hall and at home to Syracuse.
X has played a much better overall schedule. Cintas is a tough building for anybody to visit. I like the Muskies' chances! 68-64 XU!!
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