Beat Nova game thread

[muskieman]

Scruggs last shot was not a good shot at all. It was off balanced, challenged, and not what was drawn up during the timeout. As for not being ready to play that was brought up by Rafferty multiple times. We have one of the oldest teams in the country not bunch of 18 year olds. What’s next, we lost because of the refs?

Scruggs was supposed to go to his right hand on that play which might have tied the game but went to the left. I wish he had seen Nunge but he had the hot hand and yeah maybe he played hero ball but he deserves that chance to be the hero again. That was his decision, not Travis'.
We can go on with what should have or could have and we can blame everyone but the team never quit on the game, unlike some of the fans. A bucket here and block there might have been enough but the poor shooting in the first half certainly didn't help. I hope the players can take from the game is that they can play with Nova and getting down does not mean they have no hope.

I just hope that Saturday is the start of a winning streak because CU is certainly just as tough as Nova. This team has the ability they just need to put it together and they still have time to do it, no matter how bad we all felt at the end of last night's game.

[AirJordan]

definitely tougher to take when you had the ball with a chance to tie/win with under a minute. X did what i'd hoped they do against a top 20 team - they were in a winnable game at the last tv timeout and had the chance to make plays to win. they just didn't.

i'm not happy at all, but i'm certainly pleased with the effort.

Skip - regardless the end of game details---whether, or not, Scruggs' shot was a good one---I applaud him for being willing to take it. I think the more important point of disagreement I have with you is with the above partial quote.

We have beaten Nova once in sixteen attempts. Once. We have, at least we think we have, our most talented team in the Steele era. At home, after a humiliating second half beat down in Philly just two weeks ago, with a high ranking of our own, back on a nationally televised game and you are satisfied we were in the game at the end? No way do I expect us to win every game in the B.E. It is a tough conference and you are correct that Nova is talented and better coached than X. But, just happy to have a shot at winning? No way. That train left the station some years back.

I want more than two out of four halves competitive play from X. We were at Cintas, for crying out loud, with our fans and a pumped student section and we lost....yet again. I'm not on here calling for Steele's scalp. I've seen improvement and he inherited a bare cupboard when he took the job three + years ago. But, we are in a tough conference and Steele has pledged to get us to the next level. "Getting to the next level", to me, means regularly beating top ranked competition, like Nova, Seton Hall, UConn, etc. Showing up and having a chance after 15 freaking losses and that embarrassing recent beat down is simply not good enough.

So I'm more frustrated than you, I think. And, I'm less willing, in the case of this particular opponent, to just say "well its Nova. They are the better team with a better coach". No. Enough already.

I'm still behind Steele and I'm still behind this team. But the fans deserved a better effort last night. A much better effort.

[tacitus]

Great second half by Scruggs, especially late in the game. His two dagger threes were clutch. He took a risk while he was hot. If he had made the basket, it would have been a legend for Xavier lore. He didn't and we lost. Seems to happen several times a week in college basketball where a shot like that decides the final outcome.

Why did we lose?

Two reasons.

First we came out cold as ice, and not just from three, and could not keep pace. We were outscored 34-17 in the first 17 minutes. All of our top scorers were cold. Nova is a talented team with a hall of fame coach. But 1 point per minute is not just because of their defense. We missed wide open threes and contested lay ins. From that point on, our D was pretty impressive, other than a few easy post baskets and some clutch shots by a seemingly unstoppable pre-season (and likely post-season) Big East player of the year: Gillespie. And our offense was solid. We outscored Villanova 43-30 the rest of the way and almost pulled off a huge comeback. Four of their points were late-game free throws after we fouled to stop the clock.

A second reason we lost was free throws. It is not that we were horrible, but that they were clutch, hitting 20 of 21, not missing the first one until the final minute of the game, and making their last four to seal the win. (I felt they got a couple unfair calls in the first half.) We went 11-13 in the first half, and 8-11 in the second, including one one-and-done. 79% is above our season average of 72% and we had three more attempts than they did. But if we made the first end of the one-and-done (after which Nova scored 2 off of free throws!) and just one more, then Scruggs would have been shooting to win the game and not tie it on that play.

In a closely contested game of runs like that, the game is almost always won at the line...

Kudos to Villanova for staying poised in one of the toughest arenas in CBB and hitting 95% from the line despite our runs at them.

[skyhops]

This is one of Nova’s weaker teams yet we still laid an egg at hone. We should expect more especially from our most veteran team ever. Both Free and Scruggs were both preseason first team and neither would make a team this year. FYI, Sources tell me Scruggs was supposed to dish to Nunge. That’s senior leadership

[X-man]

This is one of Nova’s weaker teams yet we still laid an egg at hone. We should expect more especially from our most veteran team ever. Both Free and Scruggs were both preseason first team and neither would make a team this year. FYI, Sources tell me Scruggs was supposed to dish to Nunge. That’s senior leadership

I would have expected him to dish to a 3-shooter on the perimeter. I believe that an OT game very likely would have ended poorly for the Muskies.

[longliveskip]

This is one of Nova’s weaker teams yet we still laid an egg at hone. We should expect more especially from our most veteran team ever. Both Free and Scruggs were both preseason first team and neither would make a team this year. FYI, Sources tell me Scruggs was supposed to dish to Nunge. That’s senior leadership

they may not be as deep but their top 3 players are still better than our top 3 and that was the difference.

not really sure how you can be in a one possession game with a chance to tie/win with under 30 seconds and "lay an egg". if we'd lost by 17-20 then that's laying an egg. our dudes battled and fought and put themselves in a position to win. they just didn't WIN. ultimately, i understand that's the most important result we look at but i'm still 100% believing that this team will make the tourney and can make a run in it.

and to whoever talked about not being satisfied about being in a winnable game at the last tv timeout, have you watched BE basketball the last 5-7 years? the teams in our league are GOOD, so if you think we should be rolling most of them and be up double digits at the last tv timeout every game then you're expectations are completely out of whack.

Steele and the boys will bounce back tomorrow.

LET'S GO X!

[SC in DC]

If you want to be a glass full type of fan, instead of 0-2 against Nova this year we are actually 2-2. Just have to play only 20 minute games against them! Actually, better than in the Mack years.

[Anti-Homer]

Not going through the full thread, but I have no problem with the play. Scruggs just made a poor decision. Nunge was approaching the rim for an easy slam, but Scruggs does what Marshall often did: He made up his mind he was going to shoot as soon as he made his move. He has had a tough time finishing at the rim the last few games, so he needs to adapt. I trust that he will.