Xavier vs. UMass Saturday January 31, 2009

Welcome to this LIVE blog of the No. 10/10 Xavier University Musketeers match-up with the Massachusetts Minutemen.

First Half
19:36 - The Minutemen just left Terrell Holloway wide open for trey to open the game. If that perimeter defense continues the Musketeer fans will enjoy Brad Redford's minutes.

14:51 - Holloway's next deep ball bricked off to the opposite wing where B.J. Raymond casually let it fall into his shooting pocket for another 3-point attempt. It's good! Xavier stops a seven-point run by the Minutemen. Brad Redford has entered the game.

11:42 - The Minutemen forgot about Raymond, as he just hit another three ball in the corner on a skip pass from the opposite wing. The play was eerily reminiscent of the inbounds skip pass during overtime of the West Virginia NCAA Tournament game that Raymond used to send XU into the Elite Eight.

10:36 - UMass center Luke Bonner just caught Holloway's ankle on a loose ball scuffle. The freshman winced in pain but will remain in the game. He's limping slightly during dead balls but appears to be simply walking it off. Exhale Muskie fans.

9:56 - One of America's 15 Toughest Places to Play? EA Sports got it right, as the crowd went from near-silence while Holloway was on the deck to a standing roar after Derrick Brown sank a high-arcing three to give Xavier the lead 23-22.

7:05 - Brown is perfect from the field at 4-4 after hitting his second from deep (followed by a fist pump) and driving baseline with a left hand finish. The crowd is on their feet for X-A-V-IER. This may be the loudest Cintas Center has been all season.

3:25 - UMass' Luke Bonner just flopped (in the opinion of this blogger) to the result of Kenny Frease's second foul. The freshman, pairing with Jason Love, needs to keep his count under five to help combat the 7'1" Minutemen senior.

2:52 - Brown is in the zone today. He just took his man off the dribble baseline, took off from OUTSIDE the paint and landed the ball in the hoop with a slam and a whistle. The junior completed the and-one for a 10-point Xavier lead.

Halftime: XU goes into the break with a 44-37 lead. We'll see if UMass' Chris Lowe realizes the tag is still on his undershirt during halftime.

Second Half
17:51 - The Musketeers have started out the half a bit sluggish. Tony Gaffney stole a Holloway pass and slammed it on the fast break. The fans demanded a technical as Gaffney hung on the rim a bit longer than necessary.

17:12 - Here we go: Brown just drained his third three pointer on three attempts. This is exactly what the fans had been waiting for. UMass anwered with a Ricky Harris airball, resulting in his stumbling return to the bench.

15:31 - A series of Muskie turnovers and UMass offensive rebounds left the fans screaming for some control and an answer, which Brown provided. His offensive rebound off Dante Jackson's missed three-pointer resulted in a putback and whiste for the and-one attempt. The lead is now 53-46 before the free throw. Oh, and Chris Lowe still has the tag on, clearly visible.

13:33 - ANY Muskie fireworks on the floor will make for bedlam in the stands, but turnovers and missed shots are making XU do it without flash. The lead is 56-48.

8:26 - UMass freshman David Gibbs just sank a three-pointer to give the Minutemen the lead, 65-64, with 8:23 left. Xavier continues to turn the ball over, but C.J. Anderson has been the Xavier life preserver. He backed down the 7'1" UMass center and layed it in, a feat few forwards five inches shorted and 20 pounds lighter could accomplish. The senior has put his team on his back.

6:56 - Kenny Frease is 4-7 with 8 points and 3 rebounds, but his presence is clear outside the stat sheet. His physical play earned him a standing ovation when he returned to the bench. It seems that Sean Miller wants more of that energy in the game, as the freshman barely contacted the chair when his name was called again.

3:56 - The Xavier lead is one, 71-70. The atmosphere could be described as nervous electricity. Just one big three-pointer or fast-break layup and I don't see the fans letting UMass get any closer, let alone the Muskies.

3:14 - Nearly every one of the 10,250 fans were silent for Jason Love's free throws. He made both; the Xavier lead is 73-70.

0:59 - The game is back and forth in the final minutes. Raymond just sank another 3-pointer followed by a defensive stop and a C.J. Anderson lay-in over Bonner. The Muskie lead is 1 with 40 seconds left.

0:15 - Ricky Harris missed a three-pointer that would have given the Minutemen the lead with little time remaining. Raymond grabbed yet another emphatic rebound and made his free throws after the ensuing foul.

0:11 - Dante Jackson fouled the Harris before he could loft up a long-distance three that would have tied the game. It's a game of free throws now. The fans are hoping the free throw club will pay off here.

0:04 - The free throw club is paying off; the Musketeers are making their free throws down the stretch to keep the Minutemen at bay.

Final - Xavier wins 82-80. By far the most electric game this season at Cintas Center. Come out and watch your 19-2 Musketeers take on the Temple Owls next Thursday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

Xavier vs. Charlotte January 28, 2009

There are a lot of people tonight. I was not expecting this many people to show up considering the weather. The fans are pumped up, can't wait for this game!

First Half
18:43: After a poor pass that ended up in a turnover #15 Lamont Mack got really angry with his teammate #2 Charlie Coley. #3 DiJuan Harris stepped in to calm down his teammates. BJ Raymond's three pointer got the crowd up to a thunderous applause.

16:00: The Charlotte bench looked dejected going scoreless for the first four minutes until Lamont Mack's layup.

12:55: The whole Charlotte bench stood up as Kenny Frease tossed the ball away. The Xavier student section is exceptionally loud tonight, they are trying to give the Muskies as much energy as they can.

8:26: What an odd series of events. The Muskies had the ball, turned it over and then the stole the ball back from Charlotte on a fast break. Defense seems to be the theme of the game.

10:48: The 49ers seem to be a little off, Coley almost lost the ball again! The Muskies need to take advantage with a big play to get the crowd back into the game.

7:01: Even though they are on the bench right now, Derrick Brown and Jamel McClean are trying to cheer on their teammates. The bench cannot take their eyes off of the ball.

5:08: This is turning into a bit of a physical game. Derrick Brown ran into Charlie Coley and the refs let them play on.

3:33: Kenny Frease's dunk got all his teammates jumping off the bench and the student section really energized.

1:00: Terrell Holloway just made a jumper that barely beat the 35-second buzzer!

Second Half
17:34: Balloons were just distributed to the student section. They are trying their best to distract the Charlotte players.

16:23: BJ Raymond got the crowd excited going into the media timeout by making a 3-pointer. The Xavier chant (X-A-V-IER) was really loud. After going after a loose ball, Derrick Brown got up grimacing. The trainer is looking at him right now, he seems to be ok.

10:36: #11 Ian Andersen and BJ Raymond got a little physical in the post resulting in a foul called on Andersen.

9:42: Anymore points for Kenny Frease and he has a new career high in points. I think the crowd can sense this because everytime he touches the ball they yell "Shoot!".

8:52: Kenny just got his career high in points on a dunk! Charlotte called a timeout and all the Muskies rushed over to Kenny to congratulate him.

7:39: What a couple of plays! First, BJ Raymond managed to strip the ball away from a 49er and pass it to Terrell Holloway. Terrell then took it home with a great crossover and a layup! That was the perfect play to get the fans excited going into the ball toss!

5:59: The out-of-town score board just showed the score of the Duke vs. Wake Forest game. When the fans saw that Duke lost (68-70), they errupted in applause. I guess they saw it as some type of payback.

3:20: Almost two identical plays happened back to back. Dante Jackson turned to ball over and Charlie Coley dunked on a fast break. Terrell Holloway is set to come back in.

1:15: The student section is going crazy as Joe Hughes, Andrew Taylor and Stephen Duckett get to see some playing time.

Well that's the game......Xavier 69 Charlotte 47.

Thanks for reading! The Muskies are back in action this Saturday against UMass here at Cintas!