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kyxu
12-23-2008, 09:41 PM
Butler muscles #12 Xavier to second-straight defeat, 74-65
By Mike Damone

For the second year in a row, the holiday won’t be a happy one for Sean Miller and the Xavier Musketeers. Last season, Xavier fell at Arizona State by 22, then came home to the Cintas to lose to Tennessee by seven. Last Saturday, the #12 Musketeers (9-2) were embarrassed by Duke, and this time returned home to lose to a scrappy Butler team (10-1), 74-65, that out-muscled Xavier on the glass (38-36), on defense and in getting to the free throw line.

Thanks to the tough, relentless play by Bulldog Matt Howard (19 pts, 14 reb) on the interior, Butler maintained the lead for much of the game. On many occasions, Xavier would cut significantly into Butler’s lead and bring the fans back into the game, but on ensuing possessions, the Bulldogs would either halt the Musketeer momentum with a field goal late in the shot clock or a pair of free throws.

With 10:04 remaining in the game, a pair of Gordon Hayward (19 pts, 10 reb) free throws put the Bulldogs up by seven, 53-46, but senior Derrick Brown (17 pts, 8 reb) answered with a three, followed by a driving hoop-and-foul by freshman Terrell Holloway (8 pts, 3 reb) to pull Xavier to within one, 53-52.

Butler missed on their next possession, but junior Jason Love couldn’t hold onto the rebound, losing it out of bounds and allowing Hayward to hit a three that clipped the front of the rim and bounced up and in to put Butler back up by four, 56-52, with 8:10 left.

With 4:47 left in the game, Butler went up by seven again, 61-54, off two free throws from Hayward. Holloway again drove the lane, spun and laid it in while getting fouled where he would connect to pull Xavier within four. Butler answered, but Brown hit a long three to pull Xavier back to within three, 63-60, with 3:34 to go.

Butler missed their next field goal attempt, to Brown was whistled on the loose ball, allowing Howard to go to the line. Howard hit the first, missed the second, but was able to get his own rebound and get fouled again, where he would connect on both to put Butler back up by six, 66-60, with 3:09 to play.

When senior CJ Anderson (15 pts, 5 reb) was fouled while driving to the hoop on the next Xavier possession, Miller voiced his frustration to an official at the perceived disparity in foul calls and was given a technical foul, allowing Hayward to push Butler’s lead back to eight, 68-60.

Anderson made good on only his first free throw, but was able to tally another on a separate foul, cutting Butler’s lead to six, 68-62, with just over two minutes left. Brown nailed a three from the left wing to cut Xavier’s deficit to just three, 68-65, with 1:54 left. Xavier would get no closer, and wouldn’t even score another point.

Sophomore Dante Jackson (9 pts, 5 reb) was whistled for a foul on Butler’s next possession, and the Bulldogs were able to ice the game from the line with a pair of free throws each from Ralph Nored (10 pts, 4 reb), Hayward and Shelvin Mack (7 pts, 3 reb). Xavier came into the game making more free throws than their opponents even attempted, but the Bulldogs went 26-for-33 from the line at a 78.8 percent clip compared to Xavier’s 12-for-22 at 54.5 percent.

Leading up to last Saturday, Xavier had been getting by in their first nine games despite averaging around 16 turnovers and shooting under 68 percent from the free throw line. Against the Bulldogs, such deficiencies caught up with the Musketeers. Xavier committed 17 turnovers to Butler, leading to 24 Bulldog points. Xavier also shot a season-low 54.5 percent from the line.

This loss to the Bulldogs ended Xavier's 15-game home winning streak, and was their first loss at home since losing 82-75 to Tennessee on December 22, 2007. This was also just the second home loss suffered by Xavier since December 20, 2006. The Musketeers will have time to regroup, as they will not take the floor until December 31 when they play the Robert Morris Colonials at the Cintas Center. The Colonials (6-5) are coming off a 73-60 win over Central Michigan.