By Paul Gotham
Setting: It’s Atlantic 10 action at the Cintas Center, Wednesday night when Phil Martelli brings his St. Joe’s Hawks (9-16/ 3-8) to Cincinnati for a showdown with Chris Mack and his Xavier Musketeers (17-7/ 8-2).
Plot: The Hawks will be playing with a sense of urgency. A win over the Musketeers could make up for an otherwise disappointing season.
Sub-plot: Tomorrow night’s game is Xavier’s first home tilt in the month of February. The Muskies head back out on the road for two more games before finishing the month at Cintas against Richmond. St. Joe’s has yet to win a conference road game this season. The match-up is part of the Jesuit Basketball Spotlight project using basketball to promote Jesuit education.
Flashback: B.J. Raymond and Derrick Brown scored 18 a piece last year as the Muskies won at the Palestra, 68-54. St. Joe’s leads the all-time series 21-16.
Xavier has earned 20 NCAA Tournament berths, including last year’s Sweet Sixteen run and Elite Eight showings in 2008 and 2004. St. Joe’s has made 19 appearances (five under Martelli) in The Dance. The Hawks advanced to the Elite Eight in 2004.
Foreshadowing: Sixteen Musketeers have played in the Association, including current stars Derrick Brown, James Posey , and David West. Eighteen Hawks have laced them up in the N.B.A., including Jameer Nelson and Delonte West.
Conflict: Anything can happen in conference play. The Hawks will look for this to favor them while the Musketeers will do what they can to avoid a pitfall.
Xavier averages 79 points per game while St. Joe’s drops 69. The Musketeers limit opponents to less than 69 points per game. Xavier grabs 38.7 rebounds per game to St. Joe’s 32.9.
Xavier is accustomed to playing a faster-paced game than St. Joe’s. The Muskies will need to guard against getting careless.
Darrin Govens leads three Hawks in double figures with 13.2. The senior guard leads the Hawks with 54 three pointers on the season. Govens has 18 double digit games, including a 21-point performance against Fordham where he hit five of seven from behind the arc.
St. Joe’s starts three guards. Justin Crosgile and Garrett Williamson combine for almost 19 per game.
Todd O’Brien leads the Hawks with 6.4 rebounds. The sophomore had a double-double in a loss to St. Louis last week.
Idris Hilliard rounds out the starting five. The junior forward scores 10 points and grabs 5.8 boards.
Jordan Crawford leads the Muskies with 19.6 points. The sophomore transfer hit 40 percent of his shots from behind the arc. Crawford forced too much earlier in the year, but the Detroit native has let the game come to him of late. He is averaging almost three assists per game.
Terrell Holloway gets the Xavier offense moving. The sophomore point guard averages 11 points per game while maintaining an assist to turnover ratio of 2.1 : 1.
Jason Love finishes 59.8 percent of his shots. The senior center averages nearly a double-double with 11 points and 8.5 rebounds.
Jamel McLean has been coming on over the last month. The junior started slowly. He has had double-digit rebounding performances in two of the last three Musketeer games.
Dante Jackson does whatever is needed for his team to win. The junior small forward is capable of defending smaller guards or bigger post players. Jackson can also fill it up. Against Dayton, the Greenfield, Ohio native went five of eight from long range hitting a career-high 19 points.
Resolution: St. Joe’s does not have an answer to the Xavier bench. Brad Redford leads the Muskies with a three-point percentage of 43.9. Holloway is adept at finding Redford open in transition for the trifecta. Kenny Frease chips in six points and nearly five rebounds. Mark Lyons adds 7.6 points and relentless pressure on the perimeter.
Xavier can only beat themselves tomorrow night. The Muskies will need to show the ability to get prepared emotionally for what should be a win. This could be challenging coming off a big victory at Florida over the weekend.
St. Joe’s will keep it close in the first half. McLean will have a career night as the Muskies win by double digits.
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