Jays 61, Xavier 59
A couple of years ago, when I was in Cincinnati for a few days at a conference, I had a chance to talk hoops with several of the locals at a bar one night. I was curious if they were Cincinnati or Xavier fans. Certainly, the Bearcats were the more successful program, but Xavier with none of the thuggery or drunken coaches was the better program. I was somewhat shocked to learn, at least in their opinion, that Xavier was who almost everyone pulled for. They had played Creighton that year and won in Omaha on a late shot, after handing Kyle Korver's 02-03 Jays their first loss in Cincinnati a year earlier, so they knew of the Jays and had much respect for their program.
Over the past four years, these two Jesuit schools have played some absolutely fantastic games, all three won by a combined 11 points. In a way, these two programs are almost mirror images. I'm glad they have decided to continue this series thru the 07-08 season, and likely beyond. Creighton and Xavier should play every year, dammit.
Tonight's game was originally part of a proposed Jesuit classic, including Gonzaga and Marquette, to be put on by ESPN in the vein of their Big 10-ACC Challenge. But Gonzaga and Marquette wouldn't agree to do it. Whatever. XU and CU still locked horns, and it was a good game.
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Since no one would bite on my offer of a free ticket after my brother had to back out at the last minute, I headed to the game by myself. I know how this is going to sound, but I actually don't mind going to a game alone. I've been in the same seats for enough years now that I pretty much know everyone around me anyway.
Upon entering the Qwest Center Sunday night, I opted to make a beeline for the concession stand to get a large pop. It was Sunday night, and I didn't want to go for the hard stuff. And hoping that the Jays wouldn't play bad enough to make me change my mind. (If they didn't run out, that is -- I heard from numerous people that the Qwest Center did indeed run out of beer at the U2 show last week...I can't imagine listening to Bono preening and pitching his political views without beer. I went through 4 giant 40 oz beers to make it through the Styx show this summer -- I would have needed 5 to make it through U2. Actually, maybe that's why they ran out!)
Waiting in line, I kept getting brushed against from behind. Mildly annoyed, I eventually turned around hoping it was a hot girl, but figuring it was likely just a little kid anxious to get his nachos. As it turns out, it was an old, old man anxious to get his beer. "Come on, I'm thirsty!" he grumbled. Truth be told, the line was about as short as you're going to see at a game, so I'm not sure what his problem was.
***
Xavier is a really really good team, the toughest Creighton has played all year. Shorthanded and undermanned against the mediocre program that is Nebraska right now is one thing. We saw how that ended, in a 26-point win. Going shorthanded and undermanned against a deep, talented A-10 team is entirely different. I would have predicted a closely contested game, with Creighton winning because of two factors. The homecourt, and Dana Altman.
As it turned out, those two factors were huge -- but Anthony Tolliver was huger (to invent a word). A double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds was a stellar effort, but if its possible, his effort on defense was even more impressive. He absolutely dominated Xavier's Brian Thornton and Justin Doellman, both bigger and taller than the A-train.
The Jays effort throughout the first half was pretty solid. They played good defense, shot reasonably well (all things considered), held their own on the boards, but were absolutely atrocious from the free throw line. Something like 4-15 or something ridiculous like that. Despite all that, they led the entire half until Xavier hit a shot at the buzzer to go up 28-26 going to the locker room.
Coming out of the half, Creighton was flat. They let Xavier go on a run, and fell behind 10 points by basically forgetting to play defense. Too many good, open looks, and unlike Nebraska, Xavier knocked down the shots. By the 16 minute mark, Altman called timeout to stem the tide of a game that was slipping away fast at 41-31.
Slowly but surely, the Jays crept back into the game by getting back to the things they had done so well in the first half, and even expanded upon them. I think as college basketball fans, we don't expect wins every game -- I certainly don't. Maximum effort, solid smart play, and scrapping for every loose ball will make me content, win or lose. These are college kids, after all; people tend to forget that. The relationship between a crowd and the players, particularly in college basketball, is a symbiotic relationship. The crowd can stand and make noise, but if you're not going to play good defense and get stops, the crowd will be silenced. The 2003-04 team was a prime example of this, in a bad way. That team refused to make the hustle plays and could never seem to get a defensive stop -- and the crowd was never able to stay in the game long enough to make a difference. Late last year, as the team made their run to the tournament, that began to change. This year, with the Jays forced to play 110% due to injuries and lack of available talent, the crowd has responded to their grit and determination by creating a loud, intimidating atmosphere.
I've been going to Jays games for almost 10 years, and there has never, ever been a three-game span where the crowd has been as big of a keyt as they have been these past three. Loud, intimidating, everything that makes a homecourt advantage so tough in college basketball. The triple-OT win over Dayton is probably not possible without the crowd being as loud as they were. The blowout over Nebraska does not happen without the crowd. And tonight's game was most definitely not possible without the crowd rattling Xavier.
This seems as good a time as any to say that the fill-in student section, made up of local high school kids with the college students home on holiday break, did a nice job of making things tough on Xavier. And the Papillion-LaVista band was, ahem, better than Creighton's. They actually had pep band instruments, like tubas, as opposed to our flutes and various small woodwind instruments. That's right, our band got played by a high school band. Sheesh.
By the five-minute mark when Josh Dotzler's free throws gave Creighton a 49-48 lead, the effort from the Jays had fired up the crowd to the point that almost every single person in the 13,500 in attendance stood for the final five minutes. During one timeout, they played U2's Vertigo, and for maybe the first time ever, I didn't mind. Actually enjoyed it momentarily. If that isn't proof that enjoying music is all about experiences and when you hear it, I don't know what is.
As Creighton tried to pull away and Xavier hung around, it was the 100+ decibal atmosphere that gave the team that extra little kick of energy to be able to go into another gear. And when big Anthony Tolliver hit a three pointer at the one-minute mark to seal the game, the place was as loud as its ever been.
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The movie clips on the video boards were a nice addition tonight. Especially the Animal House clip of Dorfman saying "Ooh boy, this is gonna be great!" coming out of a timeout late in the game. But I kept wondering why they didn't bust out Dean Wormer's "Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son" clip when Nebraska was in town. Directed at Joe McCray, obviously.
On second thought, that's in bad taste, isn't it? Yeah, probably a good thing they didn't do that. Never mind...
***
So here we are at 5-2, with wins over Dayton, Nebraska and Xavier. With a dominating, intimidating post presence in Anthony Tolliver. With a freshman point guard who runs the offense and doesn't turn it over. With a guy who has proven in the past that he can be a slashing, running scorer in Johnny Mathies. With 6-8, 282 lb beast Manny Gakou coming back this week. With what is becoming one of the most intimidating arenas in the midwest. And with one of the top 10 coaches in America.
Yes, folks, there is no change in expectations. This is still a team with the talent and the coaching to win and win big. There should be no doubt of that after tonight.
You bet.
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