My take on the game:
Xavier did their best to gift wrap this game for us. After looking like they would run away with the game in the first half, they went flat and we cut the lead to 4-6 points. I believe we had 5 opportunities to draw very close but failed to capitalize. So instead of having the lead or being nearly even, we went into the locker room with a 6 point deficit - still very nice considering they were the number 10 team in the country.
In the second half, Xavier had us at a safe distance, when they stubbornly decided to stay in a zone. It's as if they were oblivious to the way that we beat Syracuse. I've said before that Mussini has difficulty shooting off the dribble, difficulty creating his own shot as an undersized guard who isn't the quickest guy, and cannot take the ball to the hoop well. I've also said he is the best pure shooter we've had here since Mullin himself, and I won't back off that. In my neighborhood we used to call kids like that zonebusters. Play a zone, give them a little room, and sooner or later they will kill you by shooting over the zone. Mussini did exactly that late in the second half, and when this kid catches fire and the opponent keeps playing zone - watch out. He is a great, reliable catch and shoot player who can fill it up quickly. And he did.
Here's the problem: This team simply doesn't know how to win at this point. Xavier ignored the fact that Mussini was torching them, and thankfully for them, so did Mussini's teammates. After he drew us very close, they forgot who got them there, and on successive trips down the floor didn't reverse the ball to the right corner where he was wide open with tons of room, and on another occasion Durand Johnson launched one from beyond the key that didn't come close.
Forget about the fact that no one who isn't named Johnson or Mussini can come close to the rim on an open outside shot. A team that wins knows how to feed the hot hand, and Mussini was scorching hot.
I'll say this again - Johnson has the best basketball talent on this team, but very little court sense. He can take the ball to the hoop with authority, nail jumpers off the dribble, is athletic, gets off the floor (witness thunderous dunk), hustles his butt off, and hits the floor with regularity. In the schoolyard he would kill most D1 players all day. But he also believes that any time he has the ball the best option is to shoot no matter where he is, how much time is on the clock, or what the game circumstances are. I agree with OLV72 - there will be nights where he will be spectacular and be the reason for a win, and a lot of nights where he can hurt you, especially in crunch time. I'll take him above what else we have, but until (if ever) he learns to play with more discipline, his value is severely limited.
All in all, a surprisingly entertaining game. It appeared that many season ticket holders stayed home, and students still aren't back.
One annoyance. With 2 minutes left Xavier was getting everything they could handle, and the crowd could have helped tip the game. The crowd was engaged but give me a break. Two minutes to go and the game on the line there shouldn't have been an ass touching a seat - everyone should have been up and screaming, and it just didn't happen. To their credit the rich folk in the seatbacks were all up standing at that point, but the rest of the crowd mostly sat.
Footnote: Christian Jones wasn't much of a factor for this 3rd straight Big East game. He wold have made a nice low D1 or Very good D2 player.
