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Golden Eagles Hand Musketeers their First Loss
12/18/2011
 | | Tu Holloway shouts encouragement to his teammates.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Travis Taylor slams in a basket early in the first half.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Kenny Frease looks to pass as he is doubled teamed.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Head Coach Chris Mack buries his head in his hands in the final minutes of the game.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |
Playing for the first time since last Saturday's 76-53 victory in the Crosstown Shootout, Xavier found themselves shorthanded against Oral Roberts. Playing shorthanded, without suspended starters Mark Lyons, Tu Holloway, and Dez Wells, the Musketeers were handed their first loss of the season, 64-42. From the first few minutes, Oral Roberts (8-4) was in complete control. The Musketeers (8-1), meanwhile, floundered and flailed offensively without their veteran guards. Struggles were to be expected, but no one in the crowd of 9,678 expected this.
Coach Chris Mack addressed the crowd before player introductions, saying, "We were all embarrassed by our behavior last weekend. It was extremely disappointing and in no way was a representation of what our university and our basketball program is about."
Lyons, Holloway, and Amos all sat on the bench in khakis and button down dress shirts. Dez Wells joined them for a short while, but had to leave due to having been ejected from the previous game. None of them wore any Xavier gear, as Mack clearly sent a message to them about what it meant to play for Xavier University.
Their teammates sent an even louder message, perhaps. They needed Lyons, Holloway, and Wells today. Desperately. Everything about the game was ugly, and it started with not having a leader on the court. Senior center Kenny Frease played his worst game of the season, finishing with just 4 points and 5 rebounds, while making just 2 of 9 shots. He turned the ball over 4 times.
"We did a lot of things outside of our system," Frease said, "We weren't really able to get into our system. My team asked me to step up, and I wasn't able to that today. Couldn't make any shots, turned the ball over a hundred times. I don't know. Got a lot of work to do."
It wasn't just Frease, however. The entire offense looked stagnant, with Dee Davis, Brad Redford, and Andre Walker all sharing the load at running the offense. None of them got anything going for Xavier. Davis had a lot of open looks, but still struggled. He finished with 10 points, 6 assists, and 2 steals. But he also turned the ball over 4 times. Andre Walker did what he usually does, with 6 points and 7 rebounds - no one could ever expect him to lead the offense, though. Redford, though, was the least effective. He was 0-5 from three and finished with just 2 points. Travis Taylor led the offense with 11 points, and finished with 9 rebounds. Other than him, though, everything was limited.
Xavier shot just 32.7% for the game, and made just 1 of 11 three pointers (9.1%). They made it to the free throw line just 11 times in the game. They tallied 17 turnovers, to just 11 assists. Any way you slice it, the offense was bad. They often look confused, with poor passes and the inability to fight through screens, as ORU hounded Davis and Redford. Kenny Frease was double teamed every time he got the ball, and Xavier never seemed to have a lot of confidence.
"We've never been a team that's made excuses," said Coach Mack, "And so, we just have to put our tails between our legs, learn from it, get better from it, individually and collectively. Be a team that competes, short-handed, but we certainly didn't do it today."
As ineffective as Xavier was, the Golden Eagles were the opposite. They shot 44.6% for the game and drained 7 threes. Leading scorer Dominque Morrison finished with 19 points on 7 of 10 shooting, and 5 of 8 from three. Cincinnati native, and Winton Woods H.S. graduate, Warren Niles chipped in 15 more, as Oral Roberts handed Xavier just their second loss in the last 46 games at the Cintas Center. From the opening tip, they out-hustled Xavier and ran a crisp offense. The Musketeers seemed to constantly lose their man on defense, and the Eagles made them pay. They would finish with 17 assists to just 9 turnovers. Offensively, they did whatever they wanted, as Xavier seemed frustrated all day.
"As a team we just didn't step up to the challenge of guarding every play like it was the last play we'd ever play," said Andre Walker, "They didn't do anything differently. one guy just wasn't sure what the other guy was going to do. And we were just frazzled the rest of the game.
"We weren't ready to play today, from the opening tip. Being down that much at home, it's embarrassing. We just didn't handle it the right way, and second half we came out the same way we did in the first half. Obviously, it wasn't working for us. We just have to look inside ourselves and see what we're made of."
With 4:53 left in the game, Morrison hit a jumper for ORU. That made the score 60-30, the largest lead of the game. Xavier never got closer than 16 in the second half. It was their worst loss in the history of the Cintas Center, and the worst home loss since La Salle beat them 80-49 at the Gardens in 2000. Perhaps this game and the 64-42 embarrassment will be motivation for this talented team the rest of the year.
"It was a tough week for our program," said Mack, "It became even tougher today. Disappointing with how we played. From tough times, tough people last. And we have to certainly get better, and improve. Some of our reserves didn't play particularly well, and I didn't coach particularly well. It's a learning time for all of us. Really disappointed."
Xavier plays the Long Beach State 49ers (4-5) next Thursday in the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu.
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