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Muskies Blast the Short-Handed Knights
11/11/2012
Facing a depleted Fairleigh Dickinson team on Friday night, Xavier (who, by all admission, was also short-handed) put an impressive beatdown on the Knights. With seven players in double digits, the Musketeers rolled to a 117-75 victory in their home opener.
And while the final score wasn't close, Xavier may have learned a lot about themselves in this game. Even if the Knights only dressed seven scholarship players due to suspensions and was at a severe height disadvantage.
Playing without Semaj Christon, who was in the hospital receiving IV fluids because of an infected cut on his elbow, Dee Davis and Brad Redford put on a show as the only two guards. Christon received the cut after his elbow met walk-on Tim Whelan's mouth (which is without two teeth now) in a practice drill.
After going back and forth for the first five minutes, Xavier began to pull away when Brad Redford completed a four point play. He drilled a deep three and was knocked to the floor in the process. That foul, and any attempt to slow Redford down by running bodies at him, could not deter the senior. The sharpshooter made six of seven threes, finishing with 19 points for the game in just 17 minutes. The knee, which clearly bothered him in stretches last season, looked as healthy as it did his freshman year when he was a dynamic weapon off the bench. The hamstring was also much better.
"It felt good," Redford said. "My teammates did a good job of finding me when they were in zone and a little bit of man-to-man, too."
Dee Davis, handed the keys to the offense for the game, was just as spectacular in his team-leading 32 minutes of play. Finishing with a career high 22 points and 15 assists, Davis found open cutters all night long. And after a poor show from deep in the exhibition, Davis drilled five of seven threes (including five in a row). The sophomore point guard looked every bit the part of a leader, calmly executing the offense nearly every time down the floor. The Musketeers turned the ball over just nine times to 25 assists.
“Guys were really sharing the ball, looking out for each other. We’re still learning about everybody’s strengths on the offensive end. But tonight was a good start,” Redford said.
While Davis dished the assists, Xavier's athletic forwards were busy slamming home dunks and scoring a lot of easy points. Travis Taylor had his best game as a Musketeer, finishing with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Against lesser competition, its easy to see how he dominated in a weak conference with Monmouth. Taylor also made six of seven free throws, which was a good statistic for the entire team. The Muskies finished 18 of 21 from the line.
Jeff Robinson played as aggressive as you could ask him, although you might not want him stepping out near the three point line to take shots. At one point, the senior forward missed a long jumper, but slashed through the lane to retrieve his own rebound and slam home a dunk. A key component to the team's offensive and defensive efficiency, Robinson finished with 16 points and 7 assists.
Fan favorite Erik Stenger, who got the start, made all six of his field goal attempts, finishing with 12 points and 4 rebounds in his regular season debut. It was a good week for Stenger, who also received a scholarship earlier, too. The high-motor athlete was busy scrapping and fighting all game, to the point he only played 15 minutes due to cramping. Stenger may not have the biggest body, but with his determination to fight and hustle on every play, he could make a big impact this season.
James Farr also had a good showing in his Xavier debut, with 14 points and 4 rebounds. The big guy was six of seven from the field, including knocking down a pair of three pointers. When a 6-9 forward can step outside and drill three-pointers, a team can definitely stretch a defense. With the Musketeers hitting on 61.9% of threes for the game, Xavier stretched the FDU zone to the breaking point.
Out of all the starters, Justin Martin played the worst game, even though it certainly wasn't bad. Martin had 11 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds in 26 minutes while playing some of the two guard. He didn't knock down a three, but no one can argue with that line from Martin. If he could do that all season, there would be a lot of happy people in Cintas.
The game was such a rout that walk on Tim Whelan got into the game with just over 17 minutes to play. He and Landen Amos both totaled 11 minutes, which is how you know it was a good night. When's the last time a walk on got into the game so early?
“Opening night, that’s what you work all summer for as a basketball player, and I think we’ve had a pretty good preseason. We’re a long way from home but we’re going to continue to work to get better,” Mack said.
Xavier's next opponent won't be as likely to allow the Musketeers to slice and dice them--especially not on national television. The Butler Bulldogs roll into town on Tuesday, fresh into the A10 conference, though this is a non-conference game. After missing the NCAA tournament last year, Butler has reloaded and is a favorite in the conference this year.
If the Musketeers want to be successful on offense again, they're going to need a healthy Christon for this game. A dynamic scorer and slasher, Christon adds another weapon to what looks like a very athletic offense for Chris Mack's team. Tuesday's game will say a lot about Xavier, who could only impress so much against a short-handed Fairleigh Dickinson
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