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Muskies Dissect Duquesne!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
1/29/2010
Xavier displayed lazer-like focus in their lopsided dominating 86-50 win over Duquesne at Cintas Thursday night. The Dukes epitomize the light cavalry approach. They have no real post presence but plenty of good tweener athletes. (Bill Clark,Damian Saunders and Melquan Bolding would play BIG minutes for any D-1 team.) They depend on making "3s" and using their quickness to get out on the fast break and shoot a bunch of free throws. Last year that formula almost got them to the NCAA Tourney for the first time since the 1970's. This year the shooting has been less dependable.
Still DU had extended Pitt to double OT-lost at Dayton in OT and lost to St Louis in double OT. No juggernaut certainly (10-10 overall) especially on the road (1-7 now) but a worthy opponent-a team that beat X at their place 72-68 last Feb.
Xavier had a great game plan and they stuck to it thus the huge 36 point margin of victory. Defense was job 1-no open looks from outside the arc-no easy drives to the hoop-low fouls. DU's offense was reduced to dribble drive-one-on-one jump shots-not their game! X boxed out physically and gave few second shots.
The Dukes played hard early in each half but X outworked them. Points were difficult to come by,but the Muskies led 16-8 with 10:35 left before the half-28-12 with 5:56 left and 43-23 at the break.
The Xavier offense was run inside-out almost exclusively against the Duquesne man. Jason Love, Kenny Frease and Jamel McLean had field days on the blocks (38 points and 25 rebounds collectively). Love's hook shot was lethal - righty or lefty. Jason got well deserved good news before the game. He's been invited to the NBA's predraft April Tournament in Portsmouth, Virginia.
Frease booked his first double-double (13 points-12 rebounds), passed out of double teams cleverly and got the ball consistently to the guards after shagging defensive rebounds. McLean celebrated his return to the starting line-up with a 4 for 4 performance from the foul line and 4 blocked shots. His tenacity inside on defense is scary!!
The Dukes switched to a 3-2 zone out of panic because X was just shredding their signature man-to-man. The Muskies surveyed the zone cooly then Jordan Crawford just drained a wing"3". Terrell Holloway followed with a dart from the other wing. So long, zone! Hello,blow-out!
DU came out with fire to start half two and cut the XU lead to 17 at 49-32. Presto-change-o!! A 13 point Muskie run fueled by the fast break. Ball game really over!! 62-32 Xavier with 11:48 left. XU limited DU to 50 points!!
The Dukes are not chopped liver with an RPI below 200. Duquesne's defense was giving up just 66 PPG. X scored 86 and didn't even make a decent % in FTs. The message is - follow the game plan relentlessly - share the ball - help on defense and everybody goes home happy accept the opposition!!!
This team is playing well. 7-2 in January(losses at Wake and Temple). 6-1 in the A-10 and solo First Place. 20 straight Cintas wins. 28 straight A-10 home victories.
Fordham comes in Sunday at 2PM. The Rams are A-10 sad sacks (2-17 overall 0-7 in the league 0-10 on the road). Coach Derek Whittenberg was fired in December. Hot shot PG Jio Fontan has transferred. They hang their hat on Frosh Forward Chris Gaston (17.5 PPG-10.7 Rebs).
X blew them out twice last season. A trap game you say?? The Rams are not capable of that. X's RPI takes a big hit even with a double digit win.
February is very daunting though. Xavier plays 7 games (5 away - only 2 at Cintas). Can the Muskies bottle up that defensive focus and inside-out formula and uncork it at UMass, Dayton, Florida, Charlotte and St. Louis?? I'm betting there may be some bumps on the road but the overall Muskie trajectory will be upward - toward a successful March.
Former XU coach Pete Gillen called XU-DU on CBS College Sports TV. He had seen XU at Wake Forest in person. Pete's relaxed and enjoying his TV and radio work for a third season. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.
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