Keys to beating Villanova....

[xu koop scoop]

Keep Goodin out of foul trouble and JP too! Hope neither gets 2 fouls in first half and especially that both don't get 2 fouls in first half.
Who might be 3rd man up if needed at PG? Our two freshmen showed up HUGE at Creighton. Maybe their best performances are
meant to be against the very best competition - as the "best competition" has no prior experience against these 1st year players.
The chance for all our players to put their A or A+ game out there tomorrow in front of an approving home crowd may provide
enough team adrenaline to score 1 or more pts than NOVA.

[MOSQUETERO]

I'm with you Scoop. I'm worried about infantile mistakes. Unforced turnovers, missed free throws, etc. Some guy on Holy Land of Hoops made mention of Reynolds not playing due to some injury but I'm not sure. I know if we play like we did against DePaul on Wed we might lose by 12. We don't have to play perfect but close to perfect. It can be done. Go X!!!

[Shadow]

National exposure. Even the left coast is keeping tabs on this game.
http://www.oregonlive.com/collegebasket ... r_m_1.html

[bleedXblue]

We need to get out of this mode of thinking we have to play perfectly against Nova. It's hampered this team (against Nova) since we started in the BE. I think in doing so, the team might try to do things we cant do and/or mentally it puts us in a pace where simply just don't play our game.

All we have to do is play well and stick to what we do best and let the chips fall where they may. Hopefully, in doing so it puts pressure on NOVA to do things they aren't comfortable with and gets them out of their normal style of play.

[Pandinus]

Let's be serious - we just need to keep this respectable

[commish118]

This game is not going to make or break the Muskies' season. Xavier needs to play loose. They have nothing to lose, and they need to play that way. The pressure is all on Nova. As a fan, I feel no anxiety or pressure. It has been fun watching this team evolve with the two freshmen.

I am expecting a fun and exciting game, in a great atmosphere! My hope is that it is close and we have a chance to win at the end.

[lionelchalmers0]

Another thing we need to do is keep our wings from over helping on the defensive end. stick with your man. The last two times at nova they killed us on the slash and Kick because we went over help on the guy driving to the basket.

It may mean giving up a few drives to the bucket, but with how good the three-point shooters are you have to stick with your man and not give up easy open threes.

[ChitownSteve]

I'm with you Scoop. I'm worried about infantile mistakes. Unforced turnovers, missed free throws, etc. Some guy on Holy Land of Hoops made mention of Reynolds not playing due to some injury but I'm not sure. I know if we play like we did against DePaul on Wed we might lose by 12. We don't have to play perfect but close to perfect. It can be done. Go X!!!

You are correct, Darryl Reynolds will be out for the game and minimizing turnovers is essential.

Go X!

[mumuskie87]

Let's be serious - we just need to keep this respectable

That's my 1st thought. Hate for X to lay an egg on national TV.
But my heart says we can pull off the upset.

[mumuskie87]

I'm with you Scoop. I'm worried about infantile mistakes. Unforced turnovers, missed free throws, etc. Some guy on Holy Land of Hoops made mention of Reynolds not playing due to some injury but I'm not sure. I know if we play like we did against DePaul on Wed we might lose by 12. We don't have to play perfect but close to perfect. It can be done. Go X!!!

You are correct, Darryl Reynolds will be out for the game and minimizing turnovers is essential.

Go X!

Yea...just confirmed by Fox Sports.
Question will be whether X's bigs can take advantage of their height advantage in the post today.
Agree got to keep Goodin on the court. Nova might press but they are 7 deep and with Reynolds out only 6 deep.
Maybe X needs to press them.
Their achilles heel has been FT shooting and TO's. Need to improve on both those categories.