200 Game Season: xavier musketeers

Showing posts with label xavier musketeers. Show all posts

Games 625-626: Thanksgiving Eve doubleheader

626 - Xavier women at Wake Forest
November 21 at Lawrence Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, NC
ACC Network

Play-by-play man Brian Rushing, late-second quarter:

" Xavier with a quick, 4-0 outburst."

625 - Georgia State vs. Georgia
November 21 at John Gray Gymnasium in George Town, Cayman Islands
Stadium TV

Considering they were blown out in the semi finals to eventual tournament champion Creighton, GSU's run in the Cayman Islands Classic was extremely successful.

Thanks to eight 3-pointers from 6-8 forward Malik Benlevi, the Panthers had no trouble with in-state rival Georgia, winning 91-67 to grab the third-place trophy.

It's the program's first win over an SEC team since December, 2003 (Auburn), and Benlevi was a huge reason why. The senior was 8-of-11 from behind the arc (GSU as a team was 14-of-25, 56%), and with all-tournament team performer D'Marcus Simonds adding 17 points and eight assists (he averaged 21 points in three tournament games), and Kane Williams contributing 14 points and seven assists (the sophomore point guard averaged 13.3 points & 4.6 assists in the tournament), the Panthers came up with one of their bigger regular season non-conference wins in a while.

Game 514 - Xavier at Butler

February 6 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN
FS1

Games 390-391: First half of final four set

NCAA Tournament regional finals

391 - (3) Oregon vs. (1) Kansas
March 25 at Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO
TBS

The Ducks reached the program's first final four since 1939 with a 74-60 victory, thanks to a defense that held top seed Kansas to 20% shooting from three and 35% overall, but the invidual performances of Jordan Bell and Tyler Dorsey stood out.

Bell did everything, finishing with eight (!) blocked shots, 13 rebounds (seven on the offensive end), and added 11 points and four assists. Dorsey was 6-of-10 from three-point range and poured in 27 points. An absolutely phenomenal evening at the perfect time for both of these gifted players.

Oregon will be a very tough opponent for either North Carolina or Kentucky in next week's national semifinals despite the fact that whomever wins that Sunday regional final will almost certainly be favored.

390 - (11) Xavier vs. (1) Gonzaga
March 25 at SAP Center at San Jose in San Jose, CA
TBS

Historic day for Gonzaga, which reached the final four for the first time in program history (and first for the West Coast Conference since 1957 and those great San Francisco teams), with a dominant performance.

The Bulldogs' defense was exceptional, holding the 11-seed to 35% shooting from the field and 12% from three, while Gonzaga itself made half of its 24 three-point attempts in an 83-59 win.

Gonzaga was at its best defensively in the guarding of Trevon Bluiett, who came into the game averaging 25 points in the tournament, but was held to 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting.

His free-throw shooting wasn't pretty (2-of-8), but otherwise, Johnathan Williams was fantastic for Gonzaga. The junior had 19 and 8 and added three blocks, while Nigel Williams-Goss was his usual steady self, leading the way with 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Game 319 - Xavier at Seton Hall

February 22 at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ
FS1

First time watching Angel Delgado play and he was great for the host Pirates.

The 6-10 junior post player had 25 points and 13 rebounds - right on his nation-best average for rebounds - and Desi Rodriguez was a perfect compliment with 22 points as the Pirates won 71-64.

Seton Hall is right on the edge of the NCAA Tournament and probably just needs to finish strong in the regular season to get an at-large berth, and Delgado is going to be a handful for any future NCAA opponent. He's certainly going to want to bounce back from his performance in last year's first round when he had just seven points before fouling out in a loss to Gonzaga.