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Muskies Meltdown vs Minutemen!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
3/4/2013
Xavier seemingly had a lot going for them heading into Saturday afternoon's A-10 tilt against UMass at Cintas. There was the positive mojo created by the upset win over Memphis and the return of PG Dee Davis to the active roster after his concussion a week earlier against Team Havov (VCU). XU started well-dominating Mass early-pounding it inside-getting Travis Taylor involved and leaning heavily on Justin Martin. The Minutemen looked a bit stunned. Then their star PG Chaz Williams worked himself into serious foul trouble. He never does that. What a break for XU,I thought!!
The Muskies led 20-11 with 10 minutes to go until halftime. Frosh PG Trey Davis was on the floor (7 minutes/game) for Mass-not Williams (First Team All League). Brad Redford fouled Davis on a three point pump fake. It was an iffy call. Was he really trying to shoot?? Anyway, Davis made all three FTs and it seemed to give him confidence.
 | | UMass keeps Semaj Christon from shooting by committing a heavy, high-flying foul. [enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Dee Davis keeps a close eye on the UMass player with the ball.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | The Xavier bench helps the officials call an intentional foul.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | It appears that Semaj Christon is playing against UMass by himself.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Brad Redford stops a UMass fast break by drawing a charging foul.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |
Dee Davis seemed not at 100%. If he had been fully functional, I imagine Chris Mack would have tested young Trey Davis more sternly with traps and in your face ball pressure. Trey Davis had room to move, unfortunately. He played 18 minutes-scoring 12 with 6 assists.
UMass survived and wriggled off the hook. Chaz Williams played well in the second half-dribble driving and pitching to 3 point shooters Freddie Riley (18 points) and Terrell Vinson (20 points). Those seniors did their job-canning 10 3 pointers. X was outscored beyond the arc 39 to 15. Ball game over!! The Muskies lost 77-72.
FT shooting was problematic again(19-29). XU got to the line at lot and outscored UMass there 19 to 10-but the gap wasn't enough to make-up for the 3 point shortfall.
Where was the perimeter defense? Riley and Vinson are microwaves when left alone to toe the arc and launch.
Turnovers were too plentiful also(16 total). There were a bunch of unforced errors which are killers. X trailed by 3 (66-63) with about 7minutes left when Dee Davis picked Freddie Riley's pocket and took off on a fastbreak. X had the numbers!! The spacing was not ideal. Dee tried a short drop-off pass to Semaj Christon. Steal-Mass fast break-Riley 3 pointer-5 point swing-Xavier down 6 and it was an uphill battle the rest of the way.
X continues to struggle in late game-late first half situations. First half-Xavier up 35-31 with 2:12 left-Muskies go 0-4 FG down the stretch with a turnover and a bad foul by Semaj. UMass closes to 35-34.
Mass is a talented team. They have 18 wins and an NCAA shot,but XU shoulda, coulda, won the game. Where did Travis Taylor and Justin Martin disappear to after halftime? Isaiah Philmore played consistently hard and well (except for FTS). Eric Stenger busted his tail (8 minutes-5 rebounds).
Semaj played well enough (17 points-6 assists) coupled with his Memphis performance to win A-10 Newcomer of the Week again. Brad Redford scored 13 giving him 38 in the last 3 games against uptempo teams (VCU, Memphis, UMass). It was an opportunity missed though. Their seniors outplayed our seniors.
Two regular season games remain. Xavier is 16-12 overall, 8-6 in the Atlantic 10 tied for 6th with UMass. It's first place St Louis at Cintas Wednesday nite (9PM-CBS Sports Network) and at Butler Saturday nite (6:30PM).
The Muskies still have a chance at a Top 4 finish and a first round A-10 tourney bye, but they need two wins and plenty of help. La Salle (10-4) would need to lose twice (GW in Philly, at St Louis). Temple (9-5) would need to lose one of two (at Fordham-which they did late last season or VCU in Philly). UMass would need to lose one of two (Butler-Thursday nite or at URI).
I'll have a Scouting Report on the streaking Top 25 rated St Louis Billikens tomorrow.
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