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Muskies Collapse, Lose Another Close One
2/24/2013
For a half, the only "HAVOC" that was wreaked on the game in the Cintas Center was the Musketeers finely tuned offensive and defensive performance. Then VCU and Shaka Smart's schemes took hold. The Rams escaped as only the second conference team to win at Xavier in the past five years, 75-71.
The result was stunning, considering Xavier's 13 point halftime and 17 point second half lead. They shot 73.7% (14-19) in the first half and suffocated the Rams. But in the blink of an eye, all havoc broke lose.
Xavier's defense held VCU to 10-33 from the field and 2-17 from three in the first half. The Rams' inability to score meant they couldn't set up their traditional press. And when they did set it up, the Musketeers did a fairly good job of cracking it.
There were signs that Xavier could be in trouble in the second half, because VCU was forcing turnovers. But with Dee Davis and Semaj Christon, it looked like they could hold it off. Besides that VCU couldn't set the press up as much, when they did, Xavier often made them pay by getting down the court faster. They scored on a lot of easy transition and fast break buckets. Ten of their 14 field goals in the first half were layups or dunks.
That success disappeared in the span of about five minutes. The traps began to work early in the second half and VCU got easy turnovers and easy points. A pair of Troy Daniels threes (19 points for the game) got the comeback started with a quick 10-0 run.
"Our guys said, 'We've got nothing to lose, we're down by a lot of points, let's just go after it,'" Smart said.
Then, with Xavier ahead 48-43 with 13:35 to go, Melvin Johnson and Davis collided on an inbounds play. Davis went down, blood above his eyes, and looked woozy heading back to the bench. He would go into the locker room and would not return.
That was an enormous loss for the Musketeers, as Davis had been key to handling the press. It wasn't perfect, and he turned the ball over five times, but Davis is the primary ball handler. Forcing Christon, Martin and Redford to break the press the rest of the game was killer. It also didn't help that Xavier was losing his 15 points, four rebounds in three assists in just 20 minutes.
"[Losing Davis] hurt us, but I don't want to sit up and here and act like we would have won the game with Dee in there," Coach Chris Mack said.
"In the second half, we just didn't do as good of a job handling the pressure," Redford said. "In the first half, we were more poised. In the second half, we had stretches, especially when Dee went out, where we turned the ball over too much."
Soon VCU finished off a 22-5 run that left the game tied and Xavier scrambling for a savior. Isaiah Philmore (11 points, two rebounds and three blocks) and Redford (15 points) tried to play that role. Redford's threes were important in the second half. And Philmore did his best to help and offense that was unable to capitalize on their advantage on the low block.
From there, the Rams responded to every big shot Xavier hit with one of their own. Redford drilled a three to give them a two point lead, and VCU would hit one of their own for the lead back. It was an agonizingly close loss in a season that has left the Musketeers coming up just short.
Disappointingly, Travis Taylor and Jeff Robinson failed to show up. Though fans have come to expect the latter in a big game, Taylor had just five points and nine rebounds. He only got five looks at the basket, but he seemed hesitant throughout the game. Their combined 2-7 from the charity stripe didn't help out, either.
Justin Martin scored eight quick points to start the game, including a pair of and-one's, but didn't score again until a three with 19 seconds to go in the game. He finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, but disappeared for long stretches of the game.
Christon, meanwhile, spent the majority of the second half struggling through double teams and calls that weren't made or went against him. His frustration with his own teammates and the referees grew obvious as the game wore on. He finished with 11 points and seven assists, but turned the ball over 10 times.
That last number was not too surprising, considering VCU forced them into 22 turnovers on 12 steals.
"Any time you have twice as many turnovers as your opponent, you're going to have a hard time winning the game," Mack said.
Despite the turnovers and missed calls, Xavier remained in the game. The inability to make shots when it counted and to handle the pressure did them in, not the refs. They were beaten on the boards for the first time all year.
And VCU's scheme is meant to do this to teams. It's a fancy gimmick. A really good one when it's working, but a gimmick nonetheless. Saint Louis shredded it, the way Xavier did for a half. The difference is the Billikens had the players to hang on, and they didn't lose their starting point guard.
"Xavier has been the class of this league for a long, long time. They're coaching staff is doing a tremendous job this year," Smart said.
But when a team gets rattled, VCU can actually wreak havoc. They can blow teams out of the gym, or get blown out of the gym when they can't make shots. It's cyclical. When the turnovers came for Xavier, the Rams hit easy layups and then the jumpers followed. It was game over from there.
That ability to come back so quickly came in handy in the toughest place to play in the conference. They not only turned the Musketeers over, but may have turned the page on their season, too. It will be difficult for Xavier to rally to the NCAA tournament now.
Taking the A-10 by storm in Brooklyn may be the only opportunity.
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