Just one thing here: Xavier Basketball

XU takes on a very solid St. Louis team at Cintas Wednesday night.  They are 15-4 overall and 3-2 in the A10.  They are a not-so-good 2-3 on the road this year.  SLU is a very good shooting team (47.3% FG - 46th in nation, 39.1% 3pt FG - 29th in nation) so it will take a solid defensive effort.  On top of that, they only allow 55 pts a game!  That's 7th best in the country.  Expect a battle.

So, what the heck is a Billiken?  Some teacher in St. Louis invented the Billiken as a charm doll in 1908 as she claimed the figure came to her in a dream (more like a nightmare).  The doll was a fad and soon enough, just like coach Rick Majerus, it was no longer popular in America.  Apparently, SLU is hoping the fad will come back again.  There aren't many mascots that could look more creepy than this alien-monster hybrid.  Are there "No Billiken Zones" marked off for parents to bring their kids to the game?  Jeeze, this guy is the definition of creepy. 

Go Muskies!!!

Welp, 3 things went horribly wrong today....
1 - Hedging on picks KILLED us!  Normally this defensive strategy works out pretty well, but we were allowing so many wide open shots off these, it completely killed our chances.
2 - We just plain sucked at Free Throws.  Horrendous!
3 - We got outrebounded, and by a lot.  Really dissapointing.

I've dwelled enough over this crappy game.  It's hard to win games in the Dumpster and we didn't bring out "A" game.  We just need to regroup and focus on the next game.

Go Muskies!

This is about as big as a regular season game as you'll find.  Xavier and Dayton are the only A10 teams with 1 loss.  Nine teams have 2 losses so the loser of this one falls right into the midst of a log jam of teams.  Oh and it's Dayton.  Enough said.

Very similar teams, statistically, in this matchup:
XU 13-5, 71.5 pts/gm, 64.6 pts allowed/gm
UD 13-5, 71.0 pts/gm, 65.8 pts allowed/gm

The Flyers are 9-2 at home.  Pretty solid, other than a 29 point beating at the hands of Buffalo (yes, that's a college and I guess they field a basketball team). 

The Muskies want this one bad.  Let's go get it!  GO MUSKIES!!!

Check it out - ESPN2 at 1:00 ET on Saturday!

XU won 68-53, and only allowed 16 2nd half points!  4 Muskies scored in double digits - Lyons (17), Frease (13), Wells (12), and Robinson (12 off the bench).  Holloway was dishing out assists, and finished with 6 pts on only 5 shots, 12 ast, and 4 steals.

After the game, St. Joe's coach Phil Martelli said that Xavier is the best team in a very good conference and the championship will have to go through Xavier.  He's a smart man.

Only two teams are left in the Atlantic 10 with one loss.  They are Xavier and Dayton.  Nothing like this rivalry and first place is on the line Saturday in this nationally-televised matchup!  Check back for a preview.

Go Muskies!

Before we get into the numbers, let's talk about how annoying the Hawk is... For those of you who may not know, St. Joe's mascot is a hawk who flaps his wings non-stop during every basketball game. He also does annoying figure eights on the court during timeouts. The Hawk flaps about 3,500 times during a game and has been at every game since the idea came about in 1956. That's annoying consistent.

The fans chant "The Hawk Never Dies" at games. Check out how the Temple students treated the Hawk last time they played. They held a funeral for the Hawk! It was well done...caskets, everyone in black, kudos to them.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Temple-students-throw-a-funeral-for-the-St-Jose?urn=ncaab-324802
But I must say, the Owls have a problem with the Hawks? Isn't that just the pot calling the kettle black? These schools are for the birds. (Bird pun!)

This should be a stiffer test for the Muskies than their last couple games. Joe's has 4 guys averaging 10+ pts/game, including 2 of the highest scoring players in the A10, Jones at 17ppg and Galloway at 16ppg. A Junior and a Sophomore, (also no Seniors on the team this year)....not good for the rest of the A10 next year.

Other points of interest:
- Galloway's shooting 3-pointers at 51% this year, 49 for 96!
- St Joes only plays 8 guys.
- They are shooting 48% FG%, 32nd in the nation. (XU is at 45.7%, 94th)
- Their FG% against is impressive, 37.8%, which is 16th best in the nation. (XU is at 38.5%, 23rd)
- They are 2-4 in road games this year.

Let's put together a full 40 minutes of solid play and tough defense and get the win! Go Muskies!!!