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Muskies' Road Results - Close but Not Enough
By
Andy Mac Williams,
2/5/2013
Xavier did it again Saturday at Richmond. They played hard!! They dominated on the boards!! They lost 73-71. That's 3 consecutive defeats away (Charlotte, St Joe's, Richmond) in the A-10. Good shooting makes up for a litany of other sins, says the old basketball bromide. Richmond made eight three pointers to XU's three. The Spiders knocked down 25 free throws to the Muskies' 20. Presto-chango- Richmond holds on for the victory.
XU compounded their situation by fouling profusely down the stretch - not their usual pattern. UR nailed the FTs. The officiating sort of stunk. Frank Scagliotta is a big name, but he's not one of my favorites. He granted Richmond an extra time-out in this tight ball game. Two years ago at Charlotte he gave UNCC two extra free throws. It's always something bizarre!!
The officiating crew forgot to call charges. X slipped in to absorb a number of them on a Spider team that likes to push the ball. They were just ignored. In the final minute two blatant Rich floor errors were just not called and Brad Redford was literally blasted-bowled over- in front of the Xavier bench. OK, It was a road game, but it also was a one possession game!!
At least XU shot 31 FTs - same as Richmond - so the Muskies did get to the line. Travis Taylor played his best game ever (24 points on 9-11 FG with 8 rebounds). He keeps expanding his arsenal of post moves-adding a cool reverse up and under in this game.
Isaiah Philmore sucked it up and played 27 minutes despite the ankle injury. He's scored 18 (8-8FG) with 9 rebounds over the last two games.
FTs are the killers (59.3% in the league-dead last). The 3 point percentage isn't awful (32.6%) but the made 3s total is way down. Brad Redford was canning 4/game during the 4-0 start. His contribution has dwindled because of the stomach flu and better defenses. Dee Davis is picking up the pace,but Justin Martin's stroke is AWOL.
5-3 at the halfway mark in the Atlantic 10 is not a bad place to be (tied for 5th with La Salle). VCU leads at 6-2. SLU, Butler and Charlotte are tied at 5-2.
XU is off until Saturday when they play Duquesne in Pittsburgh (7PM - Consol Energy Center - CBS Sports Network). The next 4 games are critical for the Muskies. They play the 4 A-10 bottom dwellers (at Duquesne 0-7: home Fordham 2-5: at Dayton 2-5: at Rhode Island 1-6). 3 wins is pretty much imperative if XU is to have a realistic shot at 10 or 11 A-10 victories and a first round conference tournament bye in Brooklyn.
The Muskies' Ken Pom number is 92 but the Realtime RPI sits at 77 not that far from bubble country and the S-curve. Don't dismiss an NCAA bid!!
Coach Mack will use his bye week wisely. This team has stayed together. They have a winning formula they believe in. Just give me 68% from the foul line and 5 or 6 made 3 pointers/game - not 3!! Fewer fouls would help and the re-emergence of Justin Martin.
The final 4 Atlantic 10 games feature 3 at Cintas (XU 51-1 since 2007) - VCU, UMass and SLU plus a season finale trip to Butler. Have faith!! This is going to be fun!!!!
More on the Duquesne Dukes Thursday. They play GW Wednesday night on campus at the Palumbo Center. X may catch a break playing the Dukes at the new building (Consol Energy) where the NHL Penquins perform. Duquesne has lost to Pitt and VCU there and rallied to beat a baddddd West Virginia team.
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