Just one thing here: Xavier Basketball

That game was just too painful for us Muskie faithful. I can't remember a game where that many good shots were in and out. Very hard to take that loss. As the A10 tourney continues, I can't even watch any of the games. I know that Xavier is capable of beating every team in the conference which is really frustrating.

The Muskies are not NCAA tourney bound for the first time since 2005! I forgot how crappy it feels to not be in the tourney. March Madness is not fun without our Muskies.

X will almost definitely be invited to play in the NIT next week. While it is not the NCAAs, I will certainly still follow X closely. We live and die as Musketeers and this year's team has so much fight and heart in them that I absolutely love to cheer for them.

It seems like this season will always be "what could have been" when thinking back on it. Mack did an amazing job with the players he had but Mark Lyons and Dez Wells provided tons of offense to their new teams this year. Dez scored 30 last night to help Maryland knock off #2 Duke! Lyons has been a big part of Arizona's success. This year's X team is one that has been great on defense but just not had enough offensive fire power. So you can't help but wonder how great they could've been with those two on the team.  The positive aspect of losing those 2 though is that Justin Martin, Dee Davis, etc. got a lot more experience this year and that should pay dividends next year. I sure hope it does. I don't like X being on the sidelines when March Madness kicks off! The future for X is bright. A big new conference. A big-time player, Semaj Christon, with a year of experience under his belt. And lots of highly-rated young guys joining the program. I can't wait for November!

Go Muskies!

"I can guarantee you're going to have to cut our hearts out of our chest for us to go down." - Coach Chris Mack

GO MUSKIES! BEAT THE HAWKS!

You can always count on not counting on any help from the refs at the old Hinkle barn. The Muskies played with heart and fight Saturday night but came up just short against Butler and their psuedo-child coach.

The narrow loss dropped X from a possible 4th place A10 finish down to the 7th seed and sets them up with an opening round matchup against St. Joe's on Thursday at 6:30. X lost on the road to the Hawks earlier this year. St. Joe's is a talented team that just haven't been able put it together this year. 

Both X and Joe's have zero chance at an at-large bid so it's all-or-nothing for both these teams Thursday night. A strong backcourt is often-times a big key to tourney success. Semaj and Dee have grown a lot over the season; let's see if they can carry the Muskies in the A10 tourney.

Go Muskies!

Back in mid-November the underdog Muskies beat the heck out of favored Butler at Cintas Center, 62-47. Soon after, Butler started playing at the level most expected, and then some. They beat then # 9 ranked UNC (obviously they were not a top 10 team), #1 ranked Indiana, and #8 (now #1) ranked Gonzaga. Not too shabby. Butler sits at 23-7 and 10-5 in the A10 after dropping games 2 of their last 3. They lost to SLU and VCU before beating UMass. A Xavier win at Butler on their Senior night would mean that X and Butler would finish tied and X would win the tie-breaker for the higher A10 tourney seed.

So, while an at-large bid to the big dance is not on the line, seeding for the A10 tourney will be decided on Saturday.

Butler is 13-2 at Hinkle, but they did drop their last one at home, 65-61 to SLU. The Muskies haven't played away from Cintas in 2 1/2 weeks so let's hope Mack has them pumped up and playing at the level they were at against the Billikens on Wednesday. Seniors Rotnei Clarke and Andrew Smith will be looking to end their careers at Hinkle with a victory. Let's see if Semaj Christon, Trav Taylor, and the Muskies can spoil their Senior night.

Go Muskies!

The Seniors stepped up huge on Senior night. I love it! Travis Taylor had one of the best Senior night games in Xavier history. Although X blew a lead late in the 2nd half, they pulled away to win it in overtime.

Taylor played 43 of a possible 45 minutes and had 19 pts, 19 rebs, and 6 blocks! Brad Redford had 11 pts on 3 3-pointers and 2 big free-throws down the stretch and Jeff Robinson had 9 pts and 6 rebs.

Oh, and in his best attempt to be playing like a Senior, Freshman Semaj Christon had 20 pts, 7 ast, 7 reb, and 2 steals in 42 minutes of play against the #15 ranked team in the nation.

Huge win by the Muskies on Senior Night. After snapping Memphis' 18 game win streak last week, the Muskies snap SLU's 11 game win streak. A bye in the A10 tourney doesn't look likely; they'd need a win at Butler on Saturday and some help. And winning the A10 tourney still appears to be X's only way to get a ticket to the big dance. But it sure was great to see the Seniors finish their careers at Cintas in style.

Go Muskies!