Deer in headlights????

[gsweeney]

Mr. N the guys might have been reading some of your posts following the A-10 Tourney and started to question themselves.

[yellow20xd]

Xavier just ran into a team that was riding the wave. After Georgia blew it's wad Xavier showed it's mettle... Next game will be a battle also... Dan

[muskieman]

I think in the end the experience and poise of X did win out. UGA looked a step slower in the second half of the second half. X was down by 11 and went on a spurt that carried them to the lead. Jackson's three was the big shot and kind of pumped X up. In the past we have seen X teams climb a mountain and just get to the summit but fall back this team has proved that they can climb over the mountain and while it doesn't always mean a win...Tenn more than often it does hold true for X.

[Mr. Neutral]

Both Dow and Miller agreed with me as to X's 1st half performance. From Dow's blog--

At halftime, Xavier coach Sean Miller told the players they looked scared on the court.

"Where's your heart?" he asked the seniors, Stanley Burrell, Josh Duncan and Drew Lavender. "Where's your toughness."

Miller, in fact, behaved with as much animation as he had all season in the locker room, for good reason. Xavier was in a position what with a nine-point deficit that in previous games had ended in losses.

"Guys were playing scared," junior forward C.J. Anderson. "Guys were playing tentative. That's not who we are as a team. Us as a team, we knew why Coach Miller was like that, so animated at halftime. And we took it upon ourselves to not have him have to come in here and yell at us like that after the game.

"There was no reason for us to be tentative and scared. Because if you lose, you won't be playing again until November."

*Does Xavier want to be here? It doesn't look like it. In fact, it looks scared by the circumstances. Georgia is pummeling XU with aggression right now, and Xavier doesn't seem to be sure how to respond. If Xavier doesn't figure something out during halftime, it's going to be a somber flight home tomorrow for the Musketeers. Burrell just watched the clock wind down without taking a shot before the half, and Miller stood there perplexed, wondering why his senior guard failed to shoot. Burrell looked visibly shaken by the situation (the entire first half, that is) as he walked off the court.

[muskieman]

We never doubted you G but Sean knew the right button to push and his second half subbing was spot on. Like the man said "it is not how you start a game it is how you finish the game."

Bring on PU. They are looking tough against Baylor up 19.

[gsweeney]

I'd be surprised if anyone would argue X was pathetic in the 1st half. It's just some of us believe Miller and his team had built enough equity over the season to give them a chance to turn things around before bailing.

[bluegrass]

Style points don't mean anything at this point.Just win baby.As for Purdue,they are very young so hopefully our experience will be the difference.I think we got the monkey off our back today.

[Mr. Neutral]

I see your point, sweens, but (1) I'm just an excitable fan, and likely to stay that way, (2), there's no tomorrow at this point, (3) every postgame article confirms that X was showing no heart or intensity whatsoever in the 1st half, and you can't always just ***** that switch, and (4) our last few NCAA games haven't confirmed an ability to close out a team.

Hence, my concern. We're all glad that X came to play in the 2nd half in a way that they hadn't in the 1st, for some reason.

[gsweeney]

I was as upset as you Mr. N with the 1st half performance. It just seemed to me this Xavier team and Coach deserved an opportunity to show their stuff in the 2nd half.

[Mr. Neutral]

Again, you're probably right. With any luck, my pessimism will be unfounded for another 5 games.