The Good and the Bad

[XU 87]

I think X played about as well as they could in the first half.

I also think that X played as about as bad as I've seen them play this year for the first ten minutes of the second half. Defensive breakdowns, turnovers and poor rebounding contributed to quickly losing a 9 point halftime lead. Of course, SJU also had something to do with this. SJU played great pressure D and made a bunch of shots.

But probably the most important thing is that X showed the ability to win when the chips were down. They could have quit when they were down by 7 in the second half. And X was down 4 with less than 2 minutes to go and came back and won. They didn't panic, got good looks on offense (Duncan's three point play and then Raymond's three), and played great D at the end. And let's not forget Stanley's two free throws at the end.

Like everyone else, I would like to have won by 15. But X showed some real guts out there by winning this game.

[XU84]

I don't think that was the worst 10 minutes we've seen. Watch the ASU game or Temple games. This was a good St. Joe's team with a great coach making adjustments in the second half. X responded and won the game. Its great!