“We’ve had some slip-ups this year and I think we’re finally back to where we use to be”, Farr said. Not only do the Big East standard-bearers have a physical presence inside, they have one of the best perimeter players in Trevon Bluiett, and athletes who are capable of turning up the tempo. “They’re a handful. Two five-men that are very good with Reynolds and Farr”. They have all the ingredients to be special and that’s why they are special. Joel Bolomboy played well, registering 26 points and 11 rebounds to claim his 24th double-double of the season. The Wildcats shot just 27 percent from the field in the first half. “To outrebound a team by 16 in the NCAA Tournament isn’t easy to do”. We wish it would have gone a different way.
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The Xavier defense held Jeremy Senglin to seven points, marking only the sixth time on the season that he scored in single figures.
“Unless there was some scandal, which I know Billy and that’s not the case, he should not have been let go”, Mack said. “Our guys battled them but they were what I thought they would be”. “I mean, they were everywhere he went. And they did a great job on him”. No. 2 seed Xavier, meanwhile, toasted 15th-seeded Weber State, 71-53. The Wildcats cut the deficit to as little as 54-47 with less than 10 minutes to play. Xavier feeds off its defense and likes to get up and down while averaging 81 points.
The Badgers shot 32.1 percent and amassed just 16 first-half points on a night that season scoring leader Nigel Hayes missed 14 of his 17 field goal attempts.
Fortunately for the Musketeers, their inside power mostly just floored Weber State.
The Musketeers jumped out to a 21-6 lead in the first 10 minutes of play.
Seton Hall players celebrate after upsetting Villanova in the the championship game of the Big East tournament.
That’s when junior guard Richaud Gittens checked in and gave his team an energy boost with a steal and layup on the other side.
“We’re in this position because we had great nonconference wins”, Holtmann said.
Today may have not told us a lot about this team or this potential tournament run.
A game that was projected with so much hype cast a clear image of Xavier basketball in one of its finest moments.
The Wildcats managed it without starting guard Ryan Richardson, too. Xavier’s reluctance to go inside led to shooting 40.5% with no free throws for the half. I felt like it got to the point where we’re right there in the game, second half, it was a seven-point game. WSU was 4 of 21 from 3-point land and was outrebounded 43-27. “We were able to keep (Bolomboy) in check for the most part and assert our will on the glass. Again, I don’t know who Wright State is pretending to be or trying to be, but that’s ridiculous”.
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Xavier, as they so often do, made a living on the boards tonight. WSU head coach Randy Rahe won his fifth Big Sky title in 10 years at Weber State and this season became WSU’s all-time winningest coach and the Big Sky’s career leader in conference wins.
