Tuesday, March 21, 2000

Familiar end for Xavier

Season-long problems doom Musketeers

BY MICHAEL PERRY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        SOUTH BEND, Ind. — In many ways, Xavier's final game typified its season.

        The Musketeers fought Monday night, but not hard enough.

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Xavier's Aaron Turner drives past Notre Dame's Harold Swanagan in the second half.
(AP photo)
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        They were close at the end, but not close enough.

        And so their season finished with a tough, physical 76-64 loss to Notre Dame in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament, a game that was close until the final minute and a half.

        “We lost too many games where we were right there,” XU coach Skip Prosser said. “To get back to the (NCAA) Tournament, we have to win those games.”

        Xavier finished 21-12 and is 0-8 all-time at the Joyce Center.

        Notre Dame (20-14) will play host to the winner of Monday night's late Southern Illinois-Brigham Young game on Wednesday night.

        The Musketeers, who trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half, pulled within 61-58 with 3:51 left after Lloyd Price made one of two free throws.

        Timeout was called.

        “We were pumped, but we knew we had to keep our composure because we were still down,” Price said.

        Said point guard Maurice McAfee: “We were talking about how we're still in this game, just get it done. You see we didn't get it done, and it's over. They made shots; they executed. They broke us down. We needed to play better defense and get more stops, and we didn't.”

        Notre Dame came out of the timeout, worked the shot clock down and got a short bank shot from its star Troy Murphy for a five-point lead.

        Xavier would get within 64-61 on a McAfee 3-pointer with 2:08 but was outscored 12-3 after that. The Irish put it away by making 10 of 11 free throws in the final 1:39.

        XU had just three field goals — all 3-pointers — in the final 9:53.

        McAfee led the Musketeers with 18 points and finished the season with 15 consecutive games in double figures. Kevin Frey added 11 points, and Price had 10.

        Xavier had a hard time penetrating the Irish's zone defense and attempted a season-high 36 3-point shots (making 12); its previous high was 27 at Temple (Jan. 25).

        “We didn't do a good job of getting inside their zone enough,” Prosser said. “We shot too many 3s. To their credit, when we did get inside we didn't often get rewarded.”

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Xavier coach Skip Prosser reacts to a call during first half against Notre Dame.
(AP photo)
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        The Musketeers wanted to make Murphy work for his points, and they did. The first- team All-American selection, who averages 23.1 ppg, finished with 21 points but was just 5-of-14 from the field.

        He made 10 of 12 free throws and also grabbed nine rebounds.

        Xavier used Aaron Turner, Frey, David West and Reggie Butler on the 6-foot-10 Murphy throughout the game.

        “We tried to limit his touches,” Frey said. “They set a lot of screens for him. He played more physical than I thought he was going to.”

        The guy that hurt XU most, especially early, was David Graves, who scored 21 of his game-high 24 points in the first half. He, too, had nine re bounds.

        While Murphy had just one field goal and nine points in the first 20 minutes, Graves was 8-of-11 from the field as the Irish shot 60.9 percent.

        The Musketeers trailed 41-38 at intermission but started the second half on a 7-3 run. They led for the last time at 45-44 with 16:27 left.

        The Fighting Irish answered with a 15-4 run. They were ahead 59-49 with 10:30 to go.

        The Musketeers had one good run left in them.

        Behind 61-52, they scored six straight points while holding the Irish scoreless for 5:48.

        “I was disappointed,” Prosser said. “I think we had a good season. I think it could've been a great season if we had made things happen better for us. It's time to turn the page and look forward to next season.”

        After the final buzzer, XU senior Darnell Williams — who played with a sprained right knee — was the last Musketeer off the court. He looked back several times before taking his final strides to the locker room. Afterward, he shed no tears.

        “A lot of memories going through my head,” he said. “It hit me when I came off the court, but it hasn't really hit home yet. I guess it will take a couple hours.”

       


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