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Xavier Shows Resilience Against Billikens
3/7/2013
Saint Louis interim coach Jim Crews is as calm, cool and collected a coach that you will see on the sidelines. He coaches his players, instead of arguing with officials -- a rare thing in the game today. His team plays with the same coolness, never rushing to take a shot. The Billikens often work the shot clock under ten seconds before shooting, never afraid to make a defense work a full possession.
 | | Smiles, applause, high-fives and hugs for the seniors as they leave the game for the final time during a regular season contest at Cintas. [enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Brad Redford “skys” to block a shot.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Jeff Robinson hits a nifty running hook shot.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Travis Taylor gets fired-up during pre-game introductions. [enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Jeff Robinson shows the crowd the gift he received during the senior night ceremonies.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Brad Redford acknowledges the crowd during the senior night festivities.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Travis Taylor lays in two of his 19 points.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |
And their defense is in your face, for forty minutes. On Wednesday night in the Cintas Center, all of those characteristics were in place for the Atlantic 10 leaders, as they erased a seven point deficit in the final minute to send it to overtime. It was there, however, that Crews and his team came completely unglued in a 77-66 Xavier victory.
“We really came out with a lot of urgency. Our guys stuck together. We were a committed team tonight,” senior guard Brad Redford said. “Every possession – we didn’t take anything for granted, and even when they came back at the end, we did a great job in the overtime to get a lead and maintain it.”
Saint Louis, who has smothered the best teams in the Atlantic 10, ran into a team that likes to play its same style. For Xavier, it was a blessing to run at a slower pace, rather than the frenetic offensive flow of the VCU and UMass games.
And despite their record and success, the Billikens are what they are -- an extremely successful system team. The late Rick Majerus was a brilliant coach, who squeezed the most out of his players. They also loved playing for him, and played hard. That system worked well even with a little talent, as long as Saint Louis passed well and played face up, on ball defense.
On Wednesday, despite its lack of depth, Xavier looked more talented than their opponent. Saint Louis also looked rattled.
Xavier coach Chris Mack switched up his defensive gameplan, playing a more traditional man to man, rather than a version of the pack line defense. This left players having to switch men defensively, and hold their own. It left some awkward matchups, like Dee Davis guarding Rob Loe or Brad Redford guarding Dwyane Evans.
But the Musketeers held their own all night, and it disturbed the Saint Louis offense. The Billikens, not the best offense in the Atlantic 10, but certainly an efficient one, took 73 shots in 45 minutes. That included 30 three pointers. They shot just 30.1% from the field and 23.3% from three. Xavier also disrupted their guard play, as they finished with 10 turnovers to 10 assists.
Taking SLU out of their gameplan, Xavier was able to use their athleticism to their advantage. They also looked like the more efficient team, shooting 42.6% from the field and 5-11 from three.
But it wasn't always easy going for the Musketeers. After looking like they had the game in hand, Mike McCall Jr. buried a three pointer and Jordair Jett had a tip in with 11.8 seconds to go to send the game into overtime.
In classic Musketeer fashion this season, Xavier had blown the lead and looked like they were bound to lose the game. In overtime Saint Louis, however, was the one that fell apart. The Musketeers' Achilles heel, free throw shooting, was their redeeming factor. Shooting 14-16 from the charity stripe in the extra period, Xavier sealed a big win.
“Going into overtime was a sick feeling because our kids felt like we let one slip away,” Mack said. “I was really impressed by our resilience, even after the turnover to start the overtime. To be able to come back out and finish the game in the manner that we did, it says a lot about the character of this team.”
While Semaj Christon led the way with 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, it really was the seniors' day. Travis Taylor dominated the Billikens, finishing with 19 points, 19 rebounds and six blocks. He's the first Xavier player to accumulate a line like that since David West.
"I don't know if there are five better rebounders in the country than Travis Taylor," Mack said. "I don't know if he had a lot of confidence coming into the season. He's earned that confidence and he's grown and grown as the year's gone on. That's a heck of a performance."
Redford had 11 points with three three pointers and a block in overtime that brought a loud roar from the crowd and a fist pump from Taylor. And Jeff Robinson contributed quality minutes with nine points and six rebounds (five offensive).
Beyond the box score, however, these players made a huge impact defensively. Xavier suffocated SLU's offense, including forcing an 0-15 line from Cody Ellis. Other offensive studs were hampered, including Kwamain Mitchell (6-14), Dwayne Evans (5-13) and McCall (5-13).
“There were plays we kind of took for granted,” Mitchell said. “I think we didn’t value possession like we normally do. They made big shots and we didn’t. And the times we did, we couldn’t get a stop."
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