Xavier 86, Virginia Tech 67

Friday, January 07, 2000
Xavier 86, Virginia Tech 67
Muskies overpowering in A-10 opener

BY MICHAEL PERRY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Maurice McAfee
(Saed Hindash photo)
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This is all you need to know about Thursday night's Xavier game: Virginia Tech did not make a basket for the first 7:17.
By then, the Hokies already had turned over the ball eight times, missed their first five shots and trailed by 15.
The final score would come as no surprise. It was Xavier 86, Virginia Tech 67.
That was slightly more lopsided than the Hokies' 17-point loss to Florida State in the Nokia Sugar Bowl Tuesday.
The only disappointment for Xavier: Instead of building on a 30-point halftime lead, XU was outscored 42-31 in the second half.

Lloyd Price
(Saed Hindash photo)
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“They came out in the second half with more intensity,” sophomore Lloyd Price said. “We weren't as focused as we were in the first half. We have to improve on that, and it all starts in practice.”
“We're always happy to get a "W,'” freshman David West said. “(But) I know I was kind of let down by the way we played in the second half.”
XU (10-3) won its 24th consecutive game at the Cincinnati Gardens; that ties for the sixth-longest home winning streak in the country.
The Musketeers beat Virginia Tech (6-6) for the seventh straight time. The Hokies won't miss the Gardens; they've lost four in a row by an average of 22.3 points there, none by fewer than 11.
And Thursday night, there were several problems with the shot clocks. The original ones were out before tipoff, and temporary shot clocks set up on the floor on each baseline malfunctioned throughout the second half.
As the sign in one end zone read: “8 games left in the Gardens.”
Seven now.

David West bumps chests with McAfee
(Saed Hindash photo)
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After Xavier jumped ahead by as many as 16 points early, the Hokies came back to within 29-21 with 7:19 left in the first half. That was as close as they would come the rest of the night.
XU scored 13 points in a row on the way to a 25-4 run and led 55-25 at halftime.
Of course, Xavier led Marquette by 16 at halftime Sunday and ended up losing.
Coach Skip Prosser said he didn't think he needed to mention Marquette at halftime.
The players did.
“It was only said one time: "Remember Marquette,'” West said. “We said it, but a lot of us didn't take it to heart. We knew what it felt like to lose, and we don't like that feeling. We just have to learn. It's going to come with time.”

Reggie Butler
(AP photo)
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This is becoming a Xavier mantra: Play for 40 minutes. That has been the focus for at least the past week.
Yet for the third straight game, Thursday night was a tale of two halves.
“Yeah, it is frustrating,” Prosser said.
“It's all the players,” junior Reggie Butler said. “The coaches don't play the games. We've got to get it done.”
Said Price: “Believe me, Coach does everything in his power in practice to make us play for 40 minutes. In practice, down to the last minute, we have to go hard. It all has to come from the players.”
West scored a career-high 22 points and added nine re bounds, three steals and two blocks. He was 8-of-11 from the field and just missed his third consecutive double-double.
“He's a horse inside,” Prosser said. “He has been our most consistent player, which is a shocking development for a freshman.”
Price, coming off a 19-point performance against Marquette, scored 20 points — two shy of his career high but his third straight game in double figures.
Darnell Williams added 11 points and Butler 10 for the Musketeers.
Virginia Tech got the game's first two points on free throws, then didn't score again for almost 4¹/₂ minutes.
It was 19-4 with 13:19 remaining in the first half.
“We know this is a conference game and we know every conference game is a big game, so we wanted to come out the right way,” Price said. “It's all about execution.”
“We were aggressive,” Prosser said. “We attacked them.”
Dennis Mims led Virginia Tech with 17 points. Freshman Brian Chase added 11.
The Hokies started the second half with a 14-5 run to make sure XU didn't add to its 30-point lead.
“I've never seen a bad win,” Prosser said. “Some of them are better than others. This one was OK.”
Butler keeps coming up big

VIRGINIA TECH (67) fg ft rb min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp Roberts 21 4-8 0-0 1-2 5 4 9 Mims 29 7-11 3-3 4-10 0 5 17 Wheeler 11 0-1 0-0 1-4 0 5 0 Dunlop 8 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Ray 21 1-2 0-1 1-3 3 3 2 Kimbrough 13 3-3 0-0 0-0 1 1 9 Chase 30 4-12 0-0 0-0 3 1 11 Whaley 20 3-6 3-6 2-3 1 3 9 J Smith 12 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 D Smith 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Dobbins 26 3-8 2-2 0-3 1 1 8 Viegas 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 _______________________________________________ TOTALS 200 26-54 8-12 9-25 16 24 67 _______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.481, FT-.667. 3-Point Goals: 7-18, .389 (Roberts 1-2, Dunlop 0-1, Ray 0-1, Kimbrough 3-3, Chase 3-8, Whaley 0-1, Dobbins 0-2). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: None. Turnovers: 21 (Mims 5, Ray 4, Chase 3, Kimbrough 3, Roberts 3, Dobbins, Dunlop, Whaley). Steals: 6 (Dobbins 3, Kimbrough, Roberts, Whaley).
XAVIER (86) fg ft rb min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp Frey 29 2-6 2-2 3-6 0 3 6 Price 29 7-12 6-8 2-3 2 2 20 West 27 8-11 6-9 6-9 3 2 22 Mcafee 34 2-6 2-2 0-3 6 3 8 Williams 25 4-12 0-0 1-3 2 3 11 Mcintosh 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Johnson 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Brown 21 2-5 3-4 0-3 1 1 7 Harris 2 1-2 0-0 1-2 0 1 2 Mason 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Ballinger 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Butler 21 3-3 4-5 3-7 2 1 10 _______________________________________________ TOTALS 200 29-58 23-30 16-36 16 17 86 _______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.500, FT-.767. 3-Point Goals: 5-16, .313 (Frey 0-1, Price 0-1, Mcafee 2-6, Williams 3-6, Brown 0-1, Ballinger 0-1). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 4 (Price 2, West 2). Turnovers: 14 (Mcafee 4, Williams 3, Brown 2, Butler, Frey, Johnson, Price, West). Steals: 11 (Brown 3, Frey 3, West 3, Mcafee, Price). __________________________________ Virginia Tech 25 42 - 67 Xavier 55 31 - 86 __________________________________ Technical fouls: Virginia Tech 1 (Roberts). Xavier 1 (Mcafee). A: 8,776. Officials: Gene Monje, Mike Sanzere, Robert Donato.

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