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Muskies Fall to Butler
By
Jay Skeldon,
12/23/2008
 | Coach Sean Miller expresses his displeasure with the officiating at the end of the game.
[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |
 | Freshman Kenny Frease had his best night as a Musketeer and is seen here scoring two of his eight points.
[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |
 | Freshman Terrell Holloway drives for two of his eight points.
[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |
 | C.J. Anderson knocks the ball away as he attempts a steal.
[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |
 | Dante’ Jackson tries to rally his teammates for a comeback late in the second half.
[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |
Coming off a disappointing performance against Duke last weekend, the No. 14 Musketeers were looking to regain their confidence against Butler on Tuesday evening at Cintas Center. The visiting Bulldogs (10-1), however, had other plans as they knocked off Xavier, 74-65, on an icy night in the Queen City. Derrick Brown led the Muskies with 17 points on 6-of-11 from the field including a career high three 3-pointers. The loss, which breaks XU's 15-game home winning streak, sends the Muskies (9-2) into their Christmas break on a two game losing streak.
Brown got the Muskies on the board with a dunk 47 seconds into the game. Following that, for the second straight game, the Musketeers found themselves in a deep hole early. The Bulldogs ran off an 8-0 run to lead 8-2. Xavier fought back to tie the game, 21-21, thanks to two Dante Jackson 3-pointers in a span of just over two minutes.
The Bulldogs reestablished the lead briefly before freshman Brad Redford drilled a trey to move the score to 26-24 in favor of the home team. That would mark the last time Xavier would lead for the entire game.
Xavier's two chronic ailments reared their head in the first half -- below average free throw shooting and taking care of the ball. The Muskies made just 2-of-5 of their free thows for 40.0 percent, and turned the ball over 10 times against a relatively low pressure defense. The Bulldogs capitalized on Xavier's miscues, scoring 14 points off turnovers in the first half. The Bulldogs turned the ball over just six times which led to three Xavier points. For the game, Butler converted 24 points off turnovers compared to five points for XU.
Additionally, Xavier did not get the important offensive leadership from its three upperclassmen leaders -- Derrick Brown, C.J. Anderson, and B.J. Raymond. The Xavier trio combined to score just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting in the first half.
In the second half, Anderson came to life. The senior scored six points in the first two minutes including a basket to tie the game at 32 with 17:54 left. But, the young and talented Butler squad, which does not have any seniors on its roster, did not back down. The Bulldogs brought the fight to Xavier with a 12-4 run, which pushed the Muskie deficit to eight, 44-36.
The final 14 minutes of the game featured a series of runs and answers to those runs by the opposite team. First Xavier spouted off a 6-0 run between 13:53 and 12:37 to pull with two, 44-42. That was followed by a 5-0 Butler run, which was answered by a 4-0 XU run. With 10:59 left, the score stood 49-46, and Butler seemingly would not let Xavier retake the lead.
Two pairs of free throws by Butler's Matt Howard and freshman Gordon Hayward pushed BU ahead 53-46. On the ensueing possessions, Derrick Brown responded with one of his three 3-pointers and Terrell Holloway converted an old fashioned 3-point play to pull within one, 53-52 with 8:37 left. That was as close as the Muskies would get for the balance of the game as a foul fest followed.
Both teams had opportunities at the line, and very simply, Butler converted and Xavier did not. In the second half, the Bulldogs drilled 26-of-30 of its free throws for 86.7 percent (78.8 percent for the game), while XU converted on only 10-of-17 for 58.8 percent (54.5 percent for the game).
The Bulldogs finished the game on a 11-5 run, which included two free points from a technical foul assessed to Xavier head coach Sean Miller. Miller was visibly displeased with the officials, who seemed to call an inconsistent game, including missing key fouls committed against the Musketeers, and several line violations by Bulldog free throw shooters.
The officials, while less consistent, were a secondary factor in the Xavier loss to Butler. The Bulldogs' offensive precision and efficiency combined with a struggling Xavier offense were the primary forces contributing to Muskies' second straight defeat.
Butler was led by Howard (19 points, 14 rebounds) and Heyward (19 points, 10 rebounds) with double-double performances. Willie Veasley and Ronald Nored added 12 and 10 points, respectively, for BU.
Besides Brown's team-best 17 points and eight rebounds for XU, C.J. Anderson added 15 points and eight rebounds. Brown and Anderson were the only two Musketeers in double figures scoring.
Dante Jackson added nine points and five rebounds, while freshmen Kenny Frease and Terrell Holloway came off the bench to add eight points. Frease drilled a perfect 4-of-4 from the field, marking a new career-high in his nascent collegiate career.
Freshman guard Brad Redford chipped in five points which came on a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws. Redford played 14 minutes of action and continues to progress in terms getting into the flow of the game of making an impact on both ends of the floor.
The Xavier players head home for a short Christmas break. Following Christmas, X returns to campus to play its final game of the 2008 calendar year on Wednesday, December 31 against Robert Morris. Game time is set for 6:00 p.m. as the Musketeers look to celebrate New Year's Eve by getting back on the winning track.
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