Colonials Can't Handle No. 16 Musketeers
No. 16 Xavier 71, George Washington 53
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Monday, February 23, 2009
CINCINNATI, Feb. 22 -- C.J. Anderson didn't even take a shot in the first half, when Xavier's perimeter game was more than enough. After halftime, he went back to threading his way through defenders and scoring.
Anderson scored 14 points in the second half, leading five players in double figures, and the 16th-ranked Musketeers rolled to a 71-53 victory over George Washington on Sunday that returned them to first place in the Atlantic 10.
"That was an important game for this team," Anderson said. "Coach [Sean] Miller wanted us as seniors to play better and set the tone. I didn't play well in the first half, but I came back and played better in the second half."
The Musketeers (22-5, 10-3) steadied themselves after yet another road loss and moved a half-game ahead of No. 25 Dayton for the conference lead.
Damian Hollis scored 15 points for George Washington (8-16, 2-10), which trailed by as many as 25 points. The Colonials shot 38.6 percent from the field and had 17 turnovers.
George Washington was coming off its biggest win of the season, 90-62 over St. Bonaventure. Rob Diggs scored a season-high 26 points in that one.
Playing a ranked team for the first time this season, the Colonials fell apart. Diggs went 1 for 5 with two points and four fouls.
"We wanted to get back to the basics, and we did a good job," said Xavier's B.J. Raymond, who had 12 points.
George Washington was so focused on limiting Xavier's bigger front line that it let the conference's best three-point shooters get open behind the arc. Xavier made six three-pointers while taking a 26-8 lead.
During a timeout with 10:25 left in the first half, Colonials Coach Karl Hobbs stayed in his crouch, staring blankly at the opposite end of the court, while his players gathered behind him. At that point, what's left for a coach to say? Xavier's versatility was too much.
"They're always going to have four guys on the court who are capable of scoring 18 to 20 points on any given night," Hobbs said. "The thing I like about them is they all have their roles and they know what they are."
