Xavier University Athletics
Duke Ends Xavier's NCAA Run
03.28.04 | Men's Basketball
The ?Elite Eight? finish for the Musketeers is the deepest Xavier has ever advanced in its 15 previous NCAA Tournament appearances. Xavier?s previous-best appearance in the NCAAs was the 1990 ?Sweet 16.?
Both teams started the game slow with the first field goal coming at 16:05 when Chris Duhon put Duke ahead 3-0 when he drove the lane and put in a floater just over the outstretched arm of Anthony Myles.
Senior Anthony Myles hit the Musketeers? first bucket at the 15:42 mark as he knocked down a jumper from just inside the three-point line to bring XU within one point.
Sophomore Dedrick Finn hit a three with no time left on the clock to give the Musketeers a 30-28 lead at the half for the second time in the last three games. Last Sunday, Finn scored from just beyond the half-court line versus Mississippi State when XU took a 34-33 lead into intermission.
The Musketeers and Blue Devils battled for 40 minutes with the largest lead of the game of six being held by Duke with 24.6 left to go in the game (65-59).
For the game, Xavier shot 34.9 percent while the Blue Devils shot 38.9 percent. The Musketeers were unable to consistently knock down the three point shot as they went 3-15 (.200) for the game including 1-9 (.111) in the second half.
Senior guard Romain Sato became just the fourth member of XU?s 2,000 point club as he totaled 10 points and 11 rebounds against the Blue Devils. Sato?s 2,000th point when he brought the Duke to lead to one (49-48) with a free throw after being fouled by J.J. Redick. The other three Musketeers to total 2,000 career points, Byron Larkin (2,696), David West (2,132) and Tyron Hill (2,003) were all in attendance at the Georgia Dome.
Myles recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds in only 23 minutes of action as he fouled out with 6:22 to go in the second half.
The Blue Devils were led by a balanced scoring attack as they placed four players in double figures. Freshman and the Atlanta Region?s Most Outstanding Player Luol Deng paced Duke with 19 points. Daniel Ewing and J.J. Redick scored 13 apiece and Shelden Williams concluded the double figure scoring with 12 points.
Xavier?s three senior starters, Lionel Chalmers, Anthony Myles and Romain Sato were all named to the All-Region team along with Duke players Luol Deng and Shelden Williams.
