Thursday, February 03, 2000
Brown's shooting practice pays off
XAVIER NOTEBOOK
BY MICHAEL PERRY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Alvin Brown has been taking extra shooting practice every day. The sophomore guard has been waiting for it to pay off, and Wednesday night he regained some confidence that was missing for a month.
Brown scored a career-high 15 points — 13 during a 20-3 Xavier run in the second half — in the Musketeers' 65-64 overtime victory over Dayton.
Brown had not scored in double figures since Jan.2. In his previous seven games, he had averaged just 4.6 points while shooting 39.3 percent from the field. XU's bench had produced only 10 total points the past two games.
In the first half Wednesday, Brown was 1-of-3 for two points.
“It's always good to come in and help the team,” said Brown, selected as the game's MVP. “I guess I had to prove something to myself, because I haven't been playing as well as I can.”
Winning shot
Darnell Williams was the second option on the inbounds play that led to Xavier's winning basket with 7.4 seconds left in OT. The senior guard drove the baseline for a layup that proved to be the game's final points.
“We wanted to go to the rim,” coach Skip Prosser said.
“When I got it, I just looked at the clock and said it was time to go,” Williams said. “The baseline was open. I was trying to look for a foul. If I was wide open, I would've shot (a jumper).”
Williams had come to the Gardens early Wednesday to shoot 100 3-pointers and 100 free throws. Still, he finished just 2-of-10 from the field with six points.
“You've got to find different ways to score sometimes,” he said.
Moeller man
Ted Fitz, a Dayton senior from Moeller High School, has appeared in every game this season, averaging 6.4 minutes a game going into Wednesday night. The 6-foot-7 forward has totaled 12 points and 20 rebounds.
He played seven minutes Wednesday night and had two assists and two turnovers.
Notable number
Dayton leads the series with Xavier 76-51, but the Musketeers have won 14 of the past 19. They now have possession of the Blackburn/McCafferty Trophy, which goes to the winner of the game.
Up next
Xavier travels to Washington to face George Washington on Saturday (4 p.m., Fox Sports Net).
Tickets, please
Xavier's next home game, Feb.12 vs. Massachusetts, is already sold out. After that, there are three games remaining at the Cincinnati Gardens: Feb.15 vs. Duquesne, Feb.22 vs. George Washington, and March 5 vs. St.Joseph's.
Fans interested in attending the Bell Atlantic Atlantic 10 Conference tournament in Philadelphia (March 8-11) can buy tickets from the Xavier athletic ticket office (745-3411). All games are at the First Union Spectrum.
Young guards not hurting UC
Offensive recruits dominate as UC builds 'for future'
Dillon's discontent fades a bit
Girls soccer players reap scholarships
Local football recruits fill Division I
Area high school signings
Area colleges football signings
Findlay QB highlights Miami class
Ohio State misses in state
UK nabs QB Boyd, 4 all-state 1st-teamers
Florida wins 2000 recruiting wars
Cincinnati boys basketball roundup
Cincinnati girls basketball roundup
Ohio boys basketball scores
Ohio girls basketball scores
Ohio girls basketball polls
N.Ky. girls basketball roundup
Kentucky girls basketball scores
Ohio State 51, Wisconsin 48
Stuff 96, San Diego 90
