Xavier vs. Rhode Island Live Blog

UPDATE 10:08 - Holloway missed both free throws, but a half four shot by Jimmy Baron was wide left, securing a 67-65 victory for XU. The Musketeers improve to 14-2 on the season and 3-0 in Atlantic 10 play. Rhode Island falls to 11-6 overall and 0-2 in conference action.

UPDATE 10:06 - XU gets the ball in and Brown will step to the line with a chance to extend the advantage once again ... He hits both, giving Xavier a 67-63 lead, but URI scores off an offensive rebound with 5.5 to play. This game isn't over yet.

UPDATE 10:04 - Freshman? Maybe. Cool customer? Most definitely. With the game on the line and 31 seconds left to play, Holloway hit a pair of free throws to extend the XU lead to four, 65-61. URI scores on a layup on the other end with 16 seconds on the clock. Timeout Rams as they try to set up their defense.

UPDATE 10:00 - As the clock hits the 10 o'clock hour, the Musketeers are forced to call a timeout on the baseline. With 33 seconds on the shot clock and 49.3 seconds on the game clock, XU holds a two-point advantage.

UPDATE 9:58 - To a collective "oh" from the Rams faithful, sophomore Dante Jackson just hit a three in transition to give the Musketeers a 63-61 lead with under two minutes to play.

UPDATE 9:56 - Anderson has fouled out, fighting for an offensive rebound. He finishes with 11 points and six rebounds, after being held out of the stat sheet in the first half.

UPDATE 9:52 - Jimmy Baron has put the Rams on his back. He hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 59-59, and then turned a Musketeer turnover into a long-range jumper to give URI the lead. As the horn sounds for the final media timeout, Frease will go to the line, drawing a foul after grabbing a critical offensive rebound. 61-59 in favor of the Rams with 3:12 to play.

UPDATE 9:43 - Head URI coach Jim Baron was just assessed a technical for arguing a call. Redford stepped to the line and hit both free throw amid a chorus of boos to put the Musketeers in front, 57-56. Anderson extended the advantage to three with a pair of free throws, earned on the foul Baron argued.

UPDATE 9:36 - A true testament to hard work paying off, Love just hit a pair of free throws to give the lead back to XU. After shooting 60 percent from the charity stripe last season, Love entered the game hitting over 75 percent of his foul shots this season. He's 4-for-4 from the free throw line tonight.

UPDATE 9:34 - With the Rams threatening to take control of the game, coach Miller has brought Anderson off the bench with 8:58 to play despite having four fouls. Another three-pointer by James put URI up 54-50, but freshman Brad Redford answered with a trey of his own. He had missed his last four attempts from long range.

UPDATE 9:30 - After a scoreless three minutes, Rhode Island has pushed the tempo up a notch and taken a 50-48 lead after a three-pointer by Delroy James. Coach Miller was forced to call a timeout and quiet the Rhode Island faithful that was brought to its feet by the three from the corner.

UPDATE 9:28 - Anderson just picked up his fourth foul. The Musketeers will need another catalyst after a pair of URI free throws have made it a one-point game, 48-47, in favor of XU.

UPDATE 9:17 - Well, someone other than Anderson scored for XU, with Brown hitting a pair of free throws, and the Muskies hold a 45-40 lead with 14:22 to play. The Rams hit just one of their first eight shots from the field to start the second half.

UPDATE 9:11 - Nine points in the second half for the Muskies...nine points for Anderson. He's also got all five of his rebounds in the second half. He's on pace for a double-double despite not scoring or pulling down a rebound in the first half.

UPDATE 9:07 - Seven straight points from Anderson, as if on cue. He's the only player, from either team, to get on the board in the second half and we're over two minutes into the half.

UPDATE 9:03 - After playing just six minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, senior C.J. Anderson opened up the second half by grabbing an offensive rebound and converting a three-point play to give XU a 37-34 advantage. Anderson has shown the ability to rise to the occassion at points this season, so he is certainly a player to watch.

UPDATE 9:02 - Senior B.J. Raymond and Brown fueled the Musketeers in the first half, scoring nine and eight points, respectively. Going a combined 8-14 from the field, the duo helped XU shot an astounding 51.7 percent from the field in the first stanza. Xavier shot the ball well in the first half, but did committ 11 turnovers in the first 20 minutes. No doubt coach Miller addressed that issue at halftime. The Musketeers have taken care the ball better in recent games and will need to gain confidence from those games to shore things up in the second half. Moments away from returning to action!

UPDATE 8:47 - The half ended with freshman Terrell Holloway diving for a looseball to force a jumpball as time expired. The Musketeers have weathered the Rams' storm in the first half, going into the break tied at 34. Rhode Island went 1-for-8 from the first in the final 3:46 of the half, stiffled by the strong man-to-man defense of the Musketeers.

UPDATE 8:45 - Freshman Kenny Frease burst onto the scene with a strong debut, but has felt growing pains at times this season. But in the last handful of games, he has looked more and more comfortable on the floor. He's showed that in this game, finishing twice around the basket, showcasing solid footwork and a tremendous touch.

UPDATE 8:38 - Senior Rams' guard Jimmy Baron showed why he is arguably one of the best shooters in the country, hitting a step-back three to give Rhode Island a five-point lead. But junior Xavier Derrick Brown answered on the other end, throwing down a putback slam to pull XU within three. While Brown has extended his range this season and become a three-point threat, tonight's game has shown why Xavier fans are so excited about him. He already has three dunks tonight.

UPDATE 8:31 - A the under-eight media timeout, the Rams have built a 29-25 lead, thanks to a high-flying alley-oop dunk from Lamonte Ulmer. The transition bucket came after the Musketeers saw the shot clock come down to the wire. One of the points coach Miller emphasized was offensive execution, and its ability to slow down the Rhode Island offense. So far, XU has eight turnovers through just over 13 minutes of game action.

UPDATE 8:27 - A long jumper by the Rams' sophomore seven-footer Will Martell and a quick bucket off the full court pressure has this game knotted at 18. Miller called timeout, but Rhode Island got another turnover and the sharp-shooting Jimmy Baron hit a three to give the Rams their first lead since they scored the first bucket of tonight's contest.

UPDATE 8:23 - Xavier looks well prepared for the Rhode Island press. If I hearing coach Miller correctly, it's a new philosophy for the Rams this season, but it hasn't caught the Musketeers off guard. They have had numerous opportunities off the primary and secondary breaks.

UPDATE 8:13 - At the first official timeout, the Musketeers lead 9-8, but a couple of missed opportunities have kept XU from building a bigger advantage. Not necessarily mistakes, but trying to finish with contact and a questionable traveling call have kept the Rams from taking an early blow from the Muskies.

UPDATE 8:06 - Opening tip and the place isn't quite filled, but there is a sold-out atmosphere. The crowd let out quite the roar when the the Rams won the tip.

UPDATE 8:04 - I kid you not, a member of the local ROTC just repelled from the rafters right above me here at Ryan Center. Apparently he was delivering the game ball. But all I really noticed was a man free-falling from the ceiling. That was pretty sweet, I can't lie.

UPDATE 7:50 - Just about ten minutes until we will get underway and the Ryan Center here in Kingston is slowly filling up. Snow and ice has slowed down some fans, I am sure, but the expectations for a match up with the Musketeers and a "Blue Out" have the crowd buzzing. Whenever Xavier emerges from the locker room and takes the floor, the Rams fans are delivering a chorus of boos. They are making an early "Sixth Man" bid.

UPDATE 7:09 - Welcome to the newest addition of the X Blog. The Musketeers just finished a shootaround session and are headed back to the locker room. Tonight's game will feature a clash of styles. Rhode Island is known around the Atlantic 10 as an offensive team, while Xavier has builit its reputation around playing strong man-to-man defense. Check out GoXavier.com to see head coach Sean Miller's interview from this morning's shootaround to see what he thinks the keys to the game are on both sides of the ball.