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Muskies Survive vs Resilient Bills!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
2/25/2010
Saint Louis played up to its glowing press clippings Wednesday night at the almost sold-out Chaifetz Center,but Xavier outclawed the home team down the stretch and posted a critical 73-71 win. The Muskies improve to 20-7 overall and 11-2 in the Atlantic 10. They're tied for first with Temple (a 49-41 winner Wed over Dayton) and Richmond with 3 games left in the regular season. XU plays the 23rd rated Richmond Spiders this Sunday at Cintas (1PM - ESPN2). Temple busses crosstown in Philly to play LaSalle at Tom Gola Arena (2PM) Sunday.
SLU played its deliberate halfcourt game early forging a 34-28 lead at the break. The Billikens got great shots with patient passing and screening and bombed in 7 of 12 3 pointers and scoring 13 total field goals on 12 assists.
Their "known quantities" PG Kwamain Mitchell and power forward Willie Reed delivered big time (12 and 9 points respectively). Reed blocked shots and clogged the middle as X stuggled with its halfcourt offense.
Brad Redford did not play again because of a sore hip and Dante Jackson was lost for a while taking 4 stitches in a cut head so Chris Mack gave Brian Walsh early minutes at guard. He responded with 4 rebounds and a nifty mid-range jumper off the dribble. He also delivered some hustling defense against the larger SLU wings. Walsh's play was a first half positive.
Jordan Crawford's sharp shooting kept XU within hailing distance. The Muskies managed just 3 assists and got to the FT line just 3 times despite a clear physical edge inside.
XU made strong halftime adjustments though. Instead of panicking and trying to match SLU with 3 pointers, X pounded the ball inside consistently and PG Terrell Holloway forced up the tempo by attacking the basket off the dribble. The game opened up. Xavier engineered a 19 point swing (spurtability ala Skip Prosser) charging from 6 down at the half to a 62-49 lead with 7 minutes left.
Open jumpers evolved quickly after the inside game was established. Jordan Crawford had a field day (26 points on 11-for-20 shooting).
Jason Love had his way inside (21 points-9 rebounds). Jamel McLean helped pound the boards (7 points-6 rebounds). Holloway scored 9 with 3 assists and 5 rebounds. His slipping sliding bank shot from a kneeling position in the lane made ESPN Sportscenter's Top 10 Plays as did one of two Jason Love flip shots from his back in the paint.
There was extra effort everywhere!! Mark Lyons and Holloway wore down PG Mitchell with relentless on-the-ball defense. Andrew Taylor did not score in 14 minutes but grabbed 6 rebounds and kept 2 critical late game possessions going with offensive boards. Jackson returned with a sore head but played aggressively on defense.
Kenny Frease didn't post big numbers but used his body to box out frequently allowing teammates to get rebounds plus he made a gorgeous cross court low-high feed to Holloway for a wide-open 3 to cut SLU's lead to 47-46 in the heart of the Muskie comeback run.
X seemed loose and well prepared! The less than stellar first half did not discourage them. Crawford appeared cool and calm in the TV cutaways despite the late SLU pressure.
Dante Jackson flashed his infectious smile despite the head bo bo and the crowd chaos. That business-like focus has resulted in a 4-1 road record in February including victories at Florida (see what the Gators did to Tennessee Tuesday), Charlotte and St Louis (the Bills are now 28-5 in their new building while X is 1-0).
SLU made it tight at the end to their credit. XU went up 10 (66-56) on a Jamel McLean stickback with 4:18 to go. McLean was fouled heavily by two Billikens. No call!! He must have said something or made a gesture to an official. Nothing blatant was evident on TV. He was "teed up"!! His 5th foul!! It resulted in a 5 point play for SLU and down to the wire the game went.
Jason Love saved the day with a scrambling rebound and time-out call, a leaping catch of a long in-bounds heave against pressure defense by Jordan Crawford and two pressure FTs with 4.6 seconds left to give Xavier a 73-69 lead. Again, Xavier played maturely smartly and cooly in a super charged hostile environment.
The Muskies get the homecourt Sunday against Richmond. The Spiders are rolling with 8 wins in a row and their first National Ranking since the days of Dick Tarant (1986).
It will be a WAR to steal a Pete Gillianism. An A-10 Armegedon. More on Richmond Friday!!
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