While hoops experts have questioned Xavier?s ability to play well when it matters most, the Musketeers have hunkered down in the locker room with the resolve to be the team that excelled for 35 minutes Saturday at Memphis.
XU is a half-game out of first place in the Atlantic 10 regular-season race with seven conference games left. If it beats those opponents ? including league-leading Temple ? it controls its destiny.
?We don?t have to catch anybody. There?s nobody that?s 9-0 in the conference and we have to hope that a couple people drop some games they shouldn?t,? coach Chris Mack said.
Xavier?s bid for a sixth straight A-10 regular-season title continues at 7 p.m. today against Rhode Island, a conference cellar dweller that has evolved behind mid-year transfers Billy Baron (Virginia) and Andre Malone (Auburn).
The Rams (5-19, 2-7 A-10) haven?t been great shooters or prolific defensive rebounders. They own a conference-worst scoring defense.
What they do have are good offensive rebounders and spurts of success from the perimeter to the paint that have contributed to stunning upsets of former league leaders Dayton and Massachusetts.
?The second half of the season here they?ve played well and had some big wins, especially going into Dayton, playing in a hostile environment and getting a win,? guard Brad Redford said. ?We can?t look over any team in this stretch, especially at this time of the year.?
Sophomore guard Baron, son of coach Jim Baron, averages a team-best 13.5 points and is shooting about as well from 3-point range as the team?s second leading scorer, Nikola Malesevic. Veteran Orion Outerbridge and freshman standout Jonathan Holton anchor frontcourt.
For Xavier, playing at Cintas Center for the first time since the Saint Louis loss, defending the Rams well could pay dividends. The Muskies have held foes to 36.2 percent shooting in wins and surrendered 44.9 percent in losses.
Freshman Dez Wells said his 19 points at Memphis were meaningless because of the defeat, but he was pleased with his defense for much of the contest. He made sure to share his defensive grade after coaches doled out the scores.
?I?m usually second-to-last or the last in defensive grading,? Wells said.
?I thought I was due for a really, really good game defensive-wise. It means a lot to me. I can?t go from having a great defensive game to having a poor one. So I?m just trying to hone my skills and just learn anything I can about the Xavier system defensively.?
Mack said defensive grades are determined by several factors, from ball pressure and ball screen defense to transition defense. Wells? struggle has been blocking out ? something he didn?t have to do in high school because of his size and athleticism.
?He did a really good job of guarding the basketball. I thought he did an excellent job of blocking out. Memphis wasn?t a huge ball screen team. He did a great job in screening actions off the ball and gap responsibilities,? Mack said.
Wells? improvement in that area could come in handy against a Rams team averaging a conference-best 16 rebounds.
XU has never lost to Rhody in Cincinnati, and the Muskies are counting on a cohesive performance to keep the 7-0 streak intact.
?Despite taking shots and people feeling like, ?What?s wrong with Xavier?? our guys are continuing to come to practice to get better, to improve,? Mack said. ?I like our team. I like the fact that we?re continuing to work through some things in hopes that we can win this championship and go out the way we want to go out.?
XU is a half-game out of first place in the Atlantic 10 regular-season race with seven conference games left. If it beats those opponents ? including league-leading Temple ? it controls its destiny.
?We don?t have to catch anybody. There?s nobody that?s 9-0 in the conference and we have to hope that a couple people drop some games they shouldn?t,? coach Chris Mack said.
Xavier?s bid for a sixth straight A-10 regular-season title continues at 7 p.m. today against Rhode Island, a conference cellar dweller that has evolved behind mid-year transfers Billy Baron (Virginia) and Andre Malone (Auburn).
The Rams (5-19, 2-7 A-10) haven?t been great shooters or prolific defensive rebounders. They own a conference-worst scoring defense.
What they do have are good offensive rebounders and spurts of success from the perimeter to the paint that have contributed to stunning upsets of former league leaders Dayton and Massachusetts.
?The second half of the season here they?ve played well and had some big wins, especially going into Dayton, playing in a hostile environment and getting a win,? guard Brad Redford said. ?We can?t look over any team in this stretch, especially at this time of the year.?
Sophomore guard Baron, son of coach Jim Baron, averages a team-best 13.5 points and is shooting about as well from 3-point range as the team?s second leading scorer, Nikola Malesevic. Veteran Orion Outerbridge and freshman standout Jonathan Holton anchor frontcourt.
For Xavier, playing at Cintas Center for the first time since the Saint Louis loss, defending the Rams well could pay dividends. The Muskies have held foes to 36.2 percent shooting in wins and surrendered 44.9 percent in losses.
Freshman Dez Wells said his 19 points at Memphis were meaningless because of the defeat, but he was pleased with his defense for much of the contest. He made sure to share his defensive grade after coaches doled out the scores.
?I?m usually second-to-last or the last in defensive grading,? Wells said.
?I thought I was due for a really, really good game defensive-wise. It means a lot to me. I can?t go from having a great defensive game to having a poor one. So I?m just trying to hone my skills and just learn anything I can about the Xavier system defensively.?
Mack said defensive grades are determined by several factors, from ball pressure and ball screen defense to transition defense. Wells? struggle has been blocking out ? something he didn?t have to do in high school because of his size and athleticism.
?He did a really good job of guarding the basketball. I thought he did an excellent job of blocking out. Memphis wasn?t a huge ball screen team. He did a great job in screening actions off the ball and gap responsibilities,? Mack said.
Wells? improvement in that area could come in handy against a Rams team averaging a conference-best 16 rebounds.
XU has never lost to Rhody in Cincinnati, and the Muskies are counting on a cohesive performance to keep the 7-0 streak intact.
?Despite taking shots and people feeling like, ?What?s wrong with Xavier?? our guys are continuing to come to practice to get better, to improve,? Mack said. ?I like our team. I like the fact that we?re continuing to work through some things in hopes that we can win this championship and go out the way we want to go out.?
