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Muskies Roar into March!! Rest and Recharge for AC!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
3/7/2010
XU didn't kid around Saturday afternoon at Cintas. They jetted to a 26-6 lead over previously streaking St.Bonnies (4 wins in a row) and cruised to a dominating 93-72 all-hands-on-deck victory to close-out the regular season. The Muskies finish at 23-7 overall, 14-2 in the A-10, and 15-0 at home. The late season momentum continues to build. Xavier's won seven in a row overall and 15 of 18 since Jan 1st (losses at Wake Forest in double OT, at #16 Temple and at Dayton).
Most importantly Saturday, the Muskies sewed up their 4th straight A-10 regular season title (tied with Temple). The record is five in a row. UMass did that from 1992-96 under John Calipari with a Rage in the Cage approach and a Play Anybody Anywhere scheduling philosophy. Marcus Camby, Lou Roe, Edgar Padilla and Carmelo Travieso were among the star players and that run culminated in a '96 Final Four appearance.
Confetti rained down on the Cintas floor as the players cut down the nets. Before tip-off, 10,000 plus said goodbye to lone Muskie Senior player Jason Love. Love celebrated on the floor scoring 14 with nine rebounds.
St. Bonnies opened in a junk defense trying to take away A-10 scoring leader Jordan Crawford. XU just spread the wealth offensively sharing the ball and making the extra pass. The Muskie defense against SBU's point guards really was the key. Terrell Holloway and Mark Lyons just refused to let the Bonnies run their offense and feed their hot shooters.
Jamel McLean ruled inside (15 points, 9 rebounds). Crawford scored an efficient 22 points (8-12FG, 4-4FL). Holloway dished out 10 assists. Lyons scored 10. Dante Jackson tuned up for the tournaments with 11 points. Overall, X shot 50% plus from the floor and totaled 25 assists versus just 10 turnovers.
Xavier now owns a 24 game Cintas win streak dating back almost two seasons (third longest in Division I). The Muskies have won 32 straight A-10 home games! That's 4 full seasons, dating back to March 2006 and a loss to St. Joe's. The record is 34 in a row by Temple in John Chaney's hayday at McGonigle Hall.
Now, XU waits until next Friday March 12th to launch their foray into March Madness. They play either Dayton or GW in the Quarterfinals at Atlantic City at 6:30 PM. X is the 2 seed. 7 seed UD hosts 10 seed GW Tuesday night in Dayton.
There's a chance Brad Redford might be available for Friday night. He's missed 5 games in a row with a sore hip.
Xavier is certain of an NCAA tournament bid. Their RPI sits around 21. They could enhance their NCAA seed with wins over Richmond and/or Temple (25 and 14 in the RPI).
The Muskies haven't blown the doors off in three Atlantic City appearances. Despite three top seeds, XU has lost all 3 years in the Semifinals (overall 3-3 record). Xavier's NCAA results coming out of AC have been excellent though (6-3, an OT loss to #1 rated Ohio State, an Elite 8, a Sweet 16).
Bubble teams like Dayton, Rhode Island, St. Louis and Charlotte head into the A-10 Tournament with almost no margin for error. It's automatic bid or no NCAA probably! And will the NIT take all 4 of those teams? They're desperate.
X, Temple and Richmond have breathing room. The new tighter timeline in AC will be interesting. X would play three games in less than 48 hours if they make Sunday's 1PM CBS Network televised Championship game.
The turnaround to the NCAA would be much shorter than in years past also. The game plan is to win three in AC, maximize the NCAA seed, and see how much Madness damage X can do against a wide-open field.
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