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02-08-2009, 12:43 PM
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj89/xhoops/f09ce6a2-e8e3-454d-b6a7-854b9f586c5.jpgDukes deal #9 Xavier first A-10 loss, 72-68
By Mike Damone
The Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh is not a place of hospitality for the Xavier Musketeers. Hopefully, it won’t become their graveyard. The Duquesne Dukes (15-7, 6-3) raced to a 21-7 lead in the opening minutes against the Xavier Musketeers (20-3, 8-1) and never looked back, as they shot an incomprehensible 81 percent (17-for-21) in the first half, and held on in the second to shock the #9 Musketeers, 72-68, in front of a sold-out crowd Saturday evening.
The loss snapped Xavier’s season-long 11-game winning streak, was Xavier’s first conference loss in February in three years and was Duquesne’s first win over a ranked team in 12 years. It was also Xavier’s first loss of the season on an opponent’s home floor.
Though it was a night of positive firsts for Duquesne, it was also one of unsettling familiarity for Xavier. The Musketeers have now lost three of their last four games at Duquesne, dating back to the 2003-04 season when the Dukes handed the Elite Eight-bound Musketeers a 71-58 shellacking in Pittsburgh. During the 2006-07 season, the Dukes led by as many as 19, before Xavier came back to tie it up, then lose in the waning seconds, 93-91. But after each loss, the Musketeers embarked on long winning streaks that led to NCAA Tournament appearances. Xavier is hoping that at least in that respect, history will repeat itself.
The 2006-07 contest was eerily similar to Saturday night’s affair. The Dukes were unconscious on the offensive end to start the game, hitting nine of their first 10 shots in staking a 24-10 lead with 12:23 to go in the first half. Aaron Jackson (21 pts, 5 reb) and Bill Clark (18 points) led the opening offensive outburst with eight and seven points, respectively. The Musketeers went on an 18-8 run to trim Duquesne’s lead to four, 32-28, with just over five minutes left in the first half. Senior BJ Raymond (18 points) and juniors Jason Love (6 pts, 4 reb) and Derrick Brown (12 pts, 7 reb) led the run with 13 combined points.
The Dukes’ hot shooting wouldn’t subside, however, as they responded with a 10-0 run to push their lead back out to 14, 42-28, with just over three minutes left in the first half. Damian Saunders (6 pts, 6 reb) got the run going with a three, and Jackson finished off the run with an easy lay-in. Clark added a three just over a minute before halftime to give the Dukes their largest lead of the game, 45-30.
Xavier attempted to claw their way back into the game, starting the second half on a 10-3 run to trim Duquesne’s lead to eight, 48-40, with 16:24 to go. Senior CJ Anderson (8 pts, 10 reb) scored four points inside to cap the run. But just as Xavier attempted to gain control of the game, Duquesne’s offense took over, as the Dukes pushed the lead back out to 14, 54-40, with 12:34 to go. The Musketeers had a world of trouble keeping tabs on Jackson, who routinely beat the Xavier defense for easy buckets inside.
The Musketeers had a golden opportunity to steal the game, when Duquesne went without a field goal in the game’s final 7:44. Brown and Raymond brought Xavier closer with a pair of free throws apiece, and freshman Terrell Holloway (16 points) and Raymond hit back-to-back triples to bring Xavier to within five, 62-57, with 4:23 to go.
Xavier struggled from the line the entire game, which ultimately proved to be their undoing when key opportunities to scratch closer skipped away with each missed free throw. With Xavier trailing, 64-57, with under two minutes to go, Brown was fouled, and hit just one of two from the line. Just a moment later, Brown was fouled again on a three-point attempt, and was given a chance to bring Xavier back to within four. He made only the first attempt.
The Dukes were far more composed from the charity stripe, going 10-for-12 from the line over the game’s final five minutes. Consecutive triples from freshman Brad Redford (3 points) and Holloway brought Xavier to within three, 69-66, with 15 seconds left, but Duquesne’s poise from the free-throw line denied the Musketeers their 12th-consecutive win and provided the final margin.
For most of the season, Xavier had typically been able to get by with the mounting turnovers and mediocre free-throw shooting by forcing opponents into miserable field goal percentages by playing lockdown, half-court defense. Though Duquesne only shot 25.9 percent in the second half, their remarkable first half was too much for the Musketeers to overcome, as the Dukes still went on to shoot 53.3 percent from the field for the game. It was the highest opponent shooting percentage yielded by Xavier this season, and the highest since UCLA shot 53.8 percent against the Musketeers last season in the NCAA Tournament.
In an attempt to slow the Duquesne offense in the second half, Xavier coach Sean Miller threw a zone at the Dukes, which did work initially, but caused Xavier to miss many key defensive rebounds and allowed Duquesne multiple chances on offense.
Xavier also did themselves no favors from the free-throw line, going just 14-for-26 from the stripe. Brown was a major culprit, missing seven of his 15 attempts. The Xavier offense failed to sustain any consistent flow as the Musketeer point guards combined for zero assists and three turnovers.
Jackson led all scorers with 21, and was followed by Clark, Mequan Bolding (12 pts, 7 reb) and Jason Duty (10 pts, 4 ast) as double-digit scorers for Duquesne. Raymond led the Musketeers in scoring, followed by Holloway and Brown. Anderson pulled down a game-high 10 boards.
The road doesn’t get any easier for the Musketeers, as they take on their conference rival Dayton Flyers on Wednesday at 7 at UD Arena in Dayton. Xavier swept the season series last year, winning all three games against the University of Dayton, including a 74-65 victory in the Atlantic 10 conference quarterfinals. Josh Duncan and CJ Anderson led the Musketeers in that victory with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Xavier has also won the last six meetings between the two schools. The Flyers (21-3, 7-2) are coming off a 79-66 loss at Charlotte on Sunday.
By Mike Damone
The Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh is not a place of hospitality for the Xavier Musketeers. Hopefully, it won’t become their graveyard. The Duquesne Dukes (15-7, 6-3) raced to a 21-7 lead in the opening minutes against the Xavier Musketeers (20-3, 8-1) and never looked back, as they shot an incomprehensible 81 percent (17-for-21) in the first half, and held on in the second to shock the #9 Musketeers, 72-68, in front of a sold-out crowd Saturday evening.
The loss snapped Xavier’s season-long 11-game winning streak, was Xavier’s first conference loss in February in three years and was Duquesne’s first win over a ranked team in 12 years. It was also Xavier’s first loss of the season on an opponent’s home floor.
Though it was a night of positive firsts for Duquesne, it was also one of unsettling familiarity for Xavier. The Musketeers have now lost three of their last four games at Duquesne, dating back to the 2003-04 season when the Dukes handed the Elite Eight-bound Musketeers a 71-58 shellacking in Pittsburgh. During the 2006-07 season, the Dukes led by as many as 19, before Xavier came back to tie it up, then lose in the waning seconds, 93-91. But after each loss, the Musketeers embarked on long winning streaks that led to NCAA Tournament appearances. Xavier is hoping that at least in that respect, history will repeat itself.
The 2006-07 contest was eerily similar to Saturday night’s affair. The Dukes were unconscious on the offensive end to start the game, hitting nine of their first 10 shots in staking a 24-10 lead with 12:23 to go in the first half. Aaron Jackson (21 pts, 5 reb) and Bill Clark (18 points) led the opening offensive outburst with eight and seven points, respectively. The Musketeers went on an 18-8 run to trim Duquesne’s lead to four, 32-28, with just over five minutes left in the first half. Senior BJ Raymond (18 points) and juniors Jason Love (6 pts, 4 reb) and Derrick Brown (12 pts, 7 reb) led the run with 13 combined points.
The Dukes’ hot shooting wouldn’t subside, however, as they responded with a 10-0 run to push their lead back out to 14, 42-28, with just over three minutes left in the first half. Damian Saunders (6 pts, 6 reb) got the run going with a three, and Jackson finished off the run with an easy lay-in. Clark added a three just over a minute before halftime to give the Dukes their largest lead of the game, 45-30.
Xavier attempted to claw their way back into the game, starting the second half on a 10-3 run to trim Duquesne’s lead to eight, 48-40, with 16:24 to go. Senior CJ Anderson (8 pts, 10 reb) scored four points inside to cap the run. But just as Xavier attempted to gain control of the game, Duquesne’s offense took over, as the Dukes pushed the lead back out to 14, 54-40, with 12:34 to go. The Musketeers had a world of trouble keeping tabs on Jackson, who routinely beat the Xavier defense for easy buckets inside.
The Musketeers had a golden opportunity to steal the game, when Duquesne went without a field goal in the game’s final 7:44. Brown and Raymond brought Xavier closer with a pair of free throws apiece, and freshman Terrell Holloway (16 points) and Raymond hit back-to-back triples to bring Xavier to within five, 62-57, with 4:23 to go.
Xavier struggled from the line the entire game, which ultimately proved to be their undoing when key opportunities to scratch closer skipped away with each missed free throw. With Xavier trailing, 64-57, with under two minutes to go, Brown was fouled, and hit just one of two from the line. Just a moment later, Brown was fouled again on a three-point attempt, and was given a chance to bring Xavier back to within four. He made only the first attempt.
The Dukes were far more composed from the charity stripe, going 10-for-12 from the line over the game’s final five minutes. Consecutive triples from freshman Brad Redford (3 points) and Holloway brought Xavier to within three, 69-66, with 15 seconds left, but Duquesne’s poise from the free-throw line denied the Musketeers their 12th-consecutive win and provided the final margin.
For most of the season, Xavier had typically been able to get by with the mounting turnovers and mediocre free-throw shooting by forcing opponents into miserable field goal percentages by playing lockdown, half-court defense. Though Duquesne only shot 25.9 percent in the second half, their remarkable first half was too much for the Musketeers to overcome, as the Dukes still went on to shoot 53.3 percent from the field for the game. It was the highest opponent shooting percentage yielded by Xavier this season, and the highest since UCLA shot 53.8 percent against the Musketeers last season in the NCAA Tournament.
In an attempt to slow the Duquesne offense in the second half, Xavier coach Sean Miller threw a zone at the Dukes, which did work initially, but caused Xavier to miss many key defensive rebounds and allowed Duquesne multiple chances on offense.
Xavier also did themselves no favors from the free-throw line, going just 14-for-26 from the stripe. Brown was a major culprit, missing seven of his 15 attempts. The Xavier offense failed to sustain any consistent flow as the Musketeer point guards combined for zero assists and three turnovers.
Jackson led all scorers with 21, and was followed by Clark, Mequan Bolding (12 pts, 7 reb) and Jason Duty (10 pts, 4 ast) as double-digit scorers for Duquesne. Raymond led the Musketeers in scoring, followed by Holloway and Brown. Anderson pulled down a game-high 10 boards.
The road doesn’t get any easier for the Musketeers, as they take on their conference rival Dayton Flyers on Wednesday at 7 at UD Arena in Dayton. Xavier swept the season series last year, winning all three games against the University of Dayton, including a 74-65 victory in the Atlantic 10 conference quarterfinals. Josh Duncan and CJ Anderson led the Musketeers in that victory with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Xavier has also won the last six meetings between the two schools. The Flyers (21-3, 7-2) are coming off a 79-66 loss at Charlotte on Sunday.