Xavier flexes muscles in victory over St. Bonaventure

By Paul Casey Gotham

St. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — For twenty minutes, the St. Bonaventure faithful had reason to believe. But hope can prove itself to be a fleeting object.

Tu Holloway tallied 22 second-half points as the Atlantic 10-leading Xavier Musketeers rallied for a convincing 79-65 victory over the St. Bonaventure Bonnies at the Reilly Center, Wednesday night.

Holloway finished a perfect eight-of-eight from the free throw line to go with five-of-six from the field including three behind the arc to pace the Musketeers.

“He’s a heckuva player,” Bonnies’ coach, Mark Schmidt said of the Xavier point guard. “We knew going into the game that people talk about him as one of the top five point guards in the country. He may be. He hit some tough shots. We had a hard time stopping him off the bounce.”

After letting the game come to him before the break, Holloway took charge. When he wasn’t leaving defenders behind and getting into the lane with a series of shoulder jukes, the junior was knocking down threes.

Dante Jackson found him open on the right side, and Holloway pulled the Muskies within one at 39-38. He followed with a steal at the opposite end and led Jeff Robinson for a dunk and Xavier’s first lead of the game four minutes into the second half. Holloway proceeded to steal the ensuing inbound and get to the line where he hit his first of eight free throws.

“I’ve grown used to him as a coach,” noted Xavier head coach, Chris Mack. “He really shines in big moments and made some tough shots tonight.”

Bonaventure refused to give in. Demtrius Conger made it 44-41 with a pair of free throws.

Xavier would not be denied.

Kenny Frease split a double-team in the post and found Jeff Robinson at the free throw line. When Robinson’s attempt caromed to the left, Frease fought off Marquise Simmons with a left arm-bar and gathered the offensive rebound with his right. Frease found Holloway open behind the arc. The junior point guard returned the ball to Robinson who finished with his second attempt.

Holloway led a 22-8 run and put the game out of reach at 70-53 with a step-back trifecta twenty-five feet from the basket.

The Bonnies came out of the locker room with defensive intensity at the opening tip and rode hot shooting from behind the arc to a five-point edge at half.

Five Xavier turnovers in the game’s opening moments spurred a 14-3 Bonnie run to start the game.

Da’Quan Cook took a pass just inside the arc and drove to the basket. When the defense sagged to take away the penetration Cook pitched to Ogo Adegboye for the senior point guard’s first of four 3s in the first half.

On the next trip, Adegboye fed Andrew Nicholson in the post for a dunk and a quick 5-0 advantage.

Michael Davenport made it a seven-point edge when he used the basket as a screen and drove across the lane to finish with his left.

Adegboye gave the Bonnies a ten-point lead when he hit from the left side. With the defense doubling down on Nicholson, the forward kicked it to Matt Wright at the top of the key who found Adegboye for the 17-7 lead.

The Musketeers’ front court sparked a 19-9 run from there.

Robinson came off the bench and made an immediate impact. The sophomore forward scored six straight for the X-Men. After tipping in a missed lay up, Robinson followed with a steal and lay up the next trip down the floor. The Indianapolis, Indiana native made it 19-9 with a drive and finish from the left.

“Jeff’s play sort of inspired his teammates a little bit,” Mack commented. “We needed that because Bonaventure came ready to play.”

Jamel McLean and Frease took turns from there.

McLean scored the next four. The senior forward grabbed an offensive rebound and finished off the glass. One possession later, he scooped up a loose ball and finished inside again.

Frease slipped a ball screen and Mark Lyons led him for a layup. The 7′ center delivered with another deuce next time down the floor to draw Xavier within three at 20-17.

Davenport responded with a pull-up jumper from the right elbow.

Lyons took over for the Muskies.  The red-shirt sophomore found his spot just to the right of the top of the key and nailed back-to-back threes.  Holloway led Lyons with the first from behind the arc. Two trips later, Frease relocated the ball from the post, and Lyons connected again.

Holloway and McLean went to the bench with a pair of fouls apiece.

Lyons and Andrew Taylor helped Xavier keep pace.

Taylor tied the contest at 26-26 with a pair of free throws.

Conger found Adegboye in the right corner, and the Bonnies led by three.

Lyons knocked down a pull-up jumper from the left baseline, and Xavier trailed by a point.

Xavier’s defense was forced to shadow the hot-shooting Adegboye along with keeping track of Nicholson in the post. Wright took advantage of the opportunity and buried back-to-back treys to close the half.

Xavier finished the game shooting better than 58 percent (7 of 12) from behind the arc, but their effort on the defensive end proved to be the difference. They limited St. Bonaventure’s leading scorer, Nicholson, to just 13 points and two rebounds. The junior forward entered play averaging 20.9 and 7.9. Xavier guard’s, especially Holloway and Lyons, routinely harassed Nicholson in the post keeping the native of Mississauga, Ontario from putting the ball on the floor to create space and get to the basket. Nicholson fouled out with two turnovers after 23 minutes of play, but Schmidt refused to blame the referee’s for the game’s outcome.

“If we can play well, and they don’t play as well, we have chance,” noted the Bonnies’ head coach. “I said it before the game if they play their A-game, and we play our A-game, we’re not going to win. In the first half, we didn’t play our A-game, but they probably played their C-game and gave us a chance.”

Lyons finished with 15 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Robinson added 12 while Frease and McLean scored 10 apiece.

Xavier out-rebounded Bonaventure 31-17.

Xavier improves to 4-0 in the A-10 and remains in a tie with Duquesne as the top. St. Bonaventure falls to 1 and 3 in the league and 9 and 8 overall.

The Bonnies play at George Washington on Saturday before returning to the Reilly Center to host Massachusetts next Wednesday.

The Musketeers host Temple, Saturday and George Washington on Wednesday.