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Xavier Dominates Duquesne
By
Jay Skeldon,
1/28/2010
Going into Thursday evening's contest against Duquesne, the Musketeers' coaching staff identified their team's size advantage over the Dukes as a key. The team was able to capitalize on this opportunity as Xavier's big men owned the paint and the guards found them, leading to an 86-50 blowout of Duquesne before a sold out crowd of 10,250 at Cintas Center. Senior center Jason Love finished with 17 points - tied for the game high - and nine rebounds, while sophomore Kenny Frease notched the first double-double of his career with 13 points and 12 boards, tying a career high. The X-Men improve their record to 14-6 on the season and 6-1 in the Atlantic 10 conference, while Duquesne drops to an even 10-10 (1-5).
Shortly after the opening tip, the game was essentially over as quickly as it started. The Musketeers came out red hot as the team surged to a 12-2 lead out of the gate. Duquesne did pull within six points, 16-10, with 10:21 left in the half. But, X outscored the Dukes 27-13 for the balance of the first half.
The Muskies went into intermission with a comfortable 20 point lead, 43-23. That was the biggest lead at halftime that XU enjoyed since the third game of the season when the team led by 24 at the break against Sacred Heart. The team shot the ball extremely well in the first half, hitting 17-of-31 field goals for 54.8 percent. That included 4-of-8 from long range as well.
In the first four minutes after half, Xavier came out a bit stagnant defensively. Duquesne sped up its pace, reducing the margin to 17, 49-32, on an Eric Evans fastbreak layup with 16:29 left.
Following the television timeout at 15:59, Xavier put the game away for good. The X-Men spouted off a 13-0 run as the lead ballooned to 30 points in what seemed like an instant.
With the game well in hand, Coach Mack spread the minutes well giving players off the bench opportunities including Brian Walsh, Jeff Robinson, and Joe Hughes. All 14 players recorded minutes including walk-ons Kevin Feeney and Johnny Mazza, who entered the game with just over two minutes left much to the crowd's delight.
The story of this game was the interior play of the Musketeers in their scoring, rebounding, and defense. Love and Frease had their way with the undersized Dukes post players. Love dominated when the guards got the ball into his hands, finishing on 8-of-9 from the field including several pretty hook shots with both his right and left hands.
Frease was nearly as impressive as he played a complete game. Perhaps Frease had added motivation given that he was replaced in the starting lineup by Jamel McLean, after having struggled for a series of preceeding games.
McLean, starting for the first time in 10 games, took advantage of the opportunity, as he recorded eight points, four blocks, and three rebounds. In addition, both he and Frease did not turn the ball over, while Love recorded just one give away.
The big men would not have been as successful had it not been for the Xavier guards, which found their teammates with passes into the post and in the paint. The team finished with 20 assists, nearly matching its season high of 22 set earlier this season.
Xavier's guards set the table well as Terrell Holloway finished with a team-high seven assists to go along with 11 points. Mark Lyons added 10 points and three assists. Jordan Crawford tied Love for the game-high in points with 17 and also dished three assists.
The team's rebounding and defense were also exemplary. Xavier dominated the boards, 47-26, marking the team's second highest rebounding margin of the year.
Xavier held the notoriously poor shooting Duquesne down with a lowly 32.8 percent field goal percentage compared to Xavier's 53.3 percent from the floor. Leading scorers Damian Saunders and Bill Clark were suppressed to a collective 19 points below their season averages, as the duo scored just six and four points, respectively. Duquesne was led by Melquan Bolding who tossed in a team-high 14 points.
The Muskies round out their three game home stand on Sunday afternoon as it hosts Fordham. The Rams, who have won just two games all season, sit in the cellar of the Atlantic 10 at 0-7. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m. at Cintas Center. The game is scheduled to be shown live on FSN Ohio.
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