 NO. 13/14 XAVIER 66, MIAMI 60
FOUR SOPHOMORES START
A young Miami squad that included four sophomores among the starters scrapped its way to a 34-32 halftime advantage. But the Muskies, who are 152-18 all-time at the Cintas Center, turned up the defensive pressure after intermission. The pressure defense and steals ultimately helped Xavier score 24 points off 18 MU turnovers.
“I know these guys (the RedHawks) practice pretty much every day in the half court (defense). It’s hard to score against Miami in the half-court. But fortunately, we didn’t have to in the second half,” Xavier Head Coach Chris Mack said.
“I thought we played hard. We didn’t play smart,” said Mack’s counterpart, Miami Head Coach Charlie Coles said.
Xavier played hard, as well, especially in the second half. In addition to giving themselves opportunities for turnover transition baskets, the Musketeers limited the impact of their first half nemesis.
EDWARDS MAKING IMPACT
Middletown native Bill Edwards, who transferred back to Miami from Penn State and sat out last season, scored a game-high 21 points. However, he had just one field goal and seven points after the break. Edwards was 4-for-4 from behind the arc before intermission.
“The coaches talked about him all week,” Xavier center Kenny Frease said. We knew he was a good player.”
The hosts got out to an early six point lead after Frease scored on a dunk at 15:08. However, Drew McGee answered with a slam at the other end. The 6-11 sophomore center had a career-high eight points in 23 minutes of action. “Drew McGhee is making progress,” Coles said after the contest.
By the 13:12 mark, Miami forged a 13-13 tie following two free throws by Julian Mavunga. The senior forward scored 17 points, with seven rebounds and five turnovers while drawing multiple defenders all night.
“He’s a great player,” Frease said. “We had three and four people covering him every time he touched the ball. He can play anywhere in the country.”
Miami twice held first half leads of four points, with the last time coming at 5:50 when Edwards nailed a trey.
Xavier rallied to gain a three-point advantage on a pair of free throws by Brad Redford at 1:47, but Edwards canned yet another three to tie the game and followed with a layup at 1:02 to give MU its 34-32 halftime advantage.
HUGE POINTS OFF TURNOVERS ADVANTAGE
Xavier set the tone for the second half with a pair of steals during a 6-0 run to open the period. The Musketeers owned a 16-0 advantage in points off turnovers in the second half.
It was a five-point Xavier lead (41-36) at 15:06, but the RedHawks regrouped to go on an 8-0 run to take their biggest lead of the half, 44-41, with 12:45 remaining. It was also their last lead of the game.
Xavier gradually took the lead and expanded it to a game-high nine points with 2:39 left. MU whittled away, making it a 63-60 deficit after Mavunga’s putback with 24 seconds left.
Edwards was called for a charge and Xavier made three of four free throws down the stretch to secure the Musketeers win.
Miami made 42.9 percent of its shots from the field for the game, but the RedHawks dropped off considerably from a first half of 52 percent (13-of-25) to a second half mark of 33.3 percent (8-of-24). Combined with the turnovers and a 37-30 XU rebounding edge , it was too much for Miami to pull out a win against the nation’s No. 13/14 team.
“I know we didn’t play as well as we’d like,” Coles said. “We fought as hard as we could, though. I wish we could have been a little better with the ball. I wish we would’ve rebounded better. We like to work the ball inside, but it ended up outside a lot. I would much rather be 12-for-24 inside the three than 8-for-19 outside the line.”
TROUBLE WITH TREYS AFTER BREAK
MU hit 6-of-10 trey attempts before intermission and was 2-of-9 behind the arc after the break.
Xavier connected on 43.9 percent of its field goals for the game, making 13 shots in each half. The Musketeers shot nine treys, making only two. They also struggled at the line, converting 12-of-21.
“You’re going to miss free throws. They’re just not falling. But it’ll get better,” said Mark Lyons, who led XU with 18 points. Frease was the only other player in double figures with 13.
Miami was led by Edwards’ 21 and 17 from Mavunga.
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