Out Toughed!

[Hnoz]

Seems like every time we play nova they beat us on toughness!

[X4LIFE]

Absolutely. Seems like X gets out hustled on big possessions as well. Nova plays with a lot of confidence. I think losing Sumner and Bluiett being hurt has hurt X confidence a lot. Guys are trying to step up. But, just falling short. I think when it comes to Goodin he is feeling the pressure and trying to do too much. This team needs to find a way to come together

[joeabe]

Say what you want Villanova is 20 points better than X. Better point guard by tons....he is the glue...when things get tough Brunson takes charge either driving, dishing or hitting a 2 in the lane. They have a high 1st rounder in Hart...Jenkins can shoot lights out...NBA talent..../ And of course we are short a few studs from last years victory....Sumner had 19, M Davis had 16 ....who on this team was going to make up that production.....CM is frustrated to the max

[bluegrass]

Its more about talent today. I thought they played tough in second half without Bluiett but Nova has guys who can make shots.

[oldhoopster2]

X was not out roughed in this one. Out shot for sure but they left it on the floor today. Ran out of gas but hustled all game. Some good points and some bad but X wouldn't beat V with Bleuitt much less without him. Made a nice little run to get to 7 then Q missed a layup that could have made it 5. FTs didn't help either, but they played tough.

[commish118]

X was not out roughed in this one. Out shot for sure but they left it on the floor today. Ran out of gas but hustled all game. Some good points and some bad but X wouldn't beat V with Bleuitt much less without him. Made a nice little run to get to 7 then Q missed a layup that could have made it 5. FTs didn't help either, but they played tough.

I agree! I thought Xavier played and extremely tough game and they out-hustled Nova to loose balls and rebounds. The difference in the game is simple:
[*] Tre got hurt and we lost 20 points per game
[*]We came in playing with only 8 scholarship players and finished the game with 7
[*]At times JP, Malcolm, and Ty were also limping, but they toughed it out, just like Tre tried to do
[*]Playing with only 7 scholarship players, and 3 of them Centers, made it extremely difficult to match-up with Nova's perimeter players
[*]Playing with only 7, JP and Q had to play 40 minutes, and RaShid, Kaiser, and Malcolm played 30. These kids were tired by the end
[*]With all of the above, they hung right in there with Nova, fading at the end... hmmm, maybe because they were tired???!!!
[*]And with all of the above, Xavier was playing tough against the best team in the county!

I love the effort and toughness this team showed today. They never quit!!! In the long run the playing time and experience is going to pay great dividends for these younger guys, especially in the NCAA. In the short term, this team is depleted with injuries, and all kind of beat up. I hope their toughness is enough to reward them with 2 wins in the next 3 games, all on the road. We just need to survive and try to get healthy, especially Tre.

[Anti-Homer]

Hard to be "out toughed" when you outrebound the other team by 20. Granted, their post players were 6'6", but Gaston ain't a giant either. Tre has proven positioning trumps height most of the time. Despite being limited offensively relative to other bigs in the BE, he is a bull, and great rebounder. Reminds me of a guy across team named Eric Hicks, who played for Huggins in the 90s.

Love his effort and demeanor as well.

[webxu]

totally disagree we got "out toughed" you sound like a school across town's coach... we were missing roughly 20 ppg, when Tre goes out, tough to overcome that esp, when your entire offense flows through him. Throw in Ed and we were missing almost 35ppg and were a missed layup ( sigh) away from being within 5 of the national champs, with 5mins to go. The guys gave all they had so no complaints on the effort and toughness. with Tre I think we win that one..