Xavier vs. Eastern Illinois Post-Game Notes

Nov. 19, 2005

Xavier Musketeers vs. Eastern Illinois Panthers

November 19, 2005

 

With tonight's 80-35 win against Eastern Illinois, Xavier has now won 16 straight regular season openers, and 15 consecutive regular season home openers. Xavier's last lost in a regular season opener, either at home or on the road, on December 2, 1989, when the Musketeers where stunned by Southern Utah State, 97-90, at Cincinnati Gardens. That team, which included future NBA standouts Tyrone Hill, Derek Strong, and Aaron Williams, went on to win a school-record 28 games and reach the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament "Sweet 16."

Tonight's win improves XU's record against Eastern Illinois to 2-1.

Xavier, in its sixth year playing at Cintas Center, is now 66-10 (.868) overall in its on-campus arena. The Musketeers are 32-4 (.889) against non-conference opponents at Cintas Center.

Game Leaders: EIU: Josh Gomes scored 11 points. George Tandy grabbed 7 rebounds. Jake Sinclair had 3 assists. XU: Brian Thornton scored 19 points, while Josh Duncan added 12 and Will Caudle 11. Thornton grabbed 9 rebounds and Justin Doellman had 6. Stanley Burrell had 5 assists.

 

Superlatives

 

The 45-point margin of victory was the second-largest margin by Xavier at Cintas Center. The largest was 51 points in a 108-57 victory against Long Island on December 8, 2001.

The 35 points scored by Eastern Illinois are the fewest points Xavier has given up since the shot clock was introduced to the college game. The previous low was 36 by Miami in Oxford on December 9, 2003. Prior to that, the previous low was 30 in a 30-28 loss to Oklahoma City at Schmidt Fieldhouse on January 23, 1982.

The 35 points scored by Eastern Illinois was the lowest point total by the Panthers since moving to Division I in 1981. The previous low was 44 in a 52-44 loss at Wisconsin in 1988.

The 18.4 percent (9-for-49) field goal shooting by Eastern Illinois was the lowest by a Xavier opponent on record since 1989-90. The previous known low occurred when Duquesne connected on just 25 percent of its shots (14-for-56) in a 67-41 XU win on March 12, 1993, in the second round of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Tournament at Market Square Arena.

Xavier held Eastern Illinois to just 17 points in the second half. The Panthers were just 3-for-27 (.111) from the field in the half. Two of the those baskets came in the last 2 minutes of the game.

Brian Thornton scored 20 points and grabbed 9 rebounds to lead the Musketeers. Thornton was a perfect 8-for-8 from the field and 4-for-7 from the free throw line. He also matched his career high with 2 assists (many times).

Justin Doellman had a career-high 6 steals. His previous best was 4 at Saint Joseph's January 29, 2005. He also matched his career high in blocks with 3, which he now has done four times.

Stanley Burrell matched his career high with 5 assists. He also had five dishes against Marshall and at George Washington last year.

Freshman B.J. Raymond scored his first collegiate points at 5:41 of the first half by connecting on a pair of free throws. Raymond later connected on a three-pointer with 1:26 left in the second half for his first field goal. He finished with 8 points, 2 steals, and 1 assist in 17 minutes.

Freshman Johnny Wolf scored his first collegiate points on a jumper in the lane at 2:19 of the second half. He also had 2 rebounds and 1 assist in 20 minutes.

Sophomore Boubacar Coly saw his first regular season action as a Musketeer, grabbing 3 rebounds.

First Half

 

Leading 6-4 at the 15:14 mark, Xavier went on an 12-1 run to take an 18-5 lead at 9:14. Will Caudle came off the bench to lead the charge with 4 points, including a fast-break dunk and a pair of free throws. Justin Cage and Stanley Burrell also added 3 points apiece during the stretch.

First Half Largest Leads: EIU - did not lead; XU - 19

First Half Lead Changes: none

 

Second Half

Leading 37-20 at 18:56, XU went on an 18-0 run to take a 55-20 lead at 12:57. Brian Thornton scored 6 points and Dedrick Finn connected on a pair of three-pointers during the spurt to lead the Musketeers. Justin Doellman also had three steals to help spark the run.

Eastern Illinois went without a field goal from 18:56 (a layup by Josh Gomes) to 1:51 (a 3-pointer by Bill Duany). The Panthers scored just 10 points on free throws during the shooting drought.

Second Half Largest Leads: EIU - did not lead; XU - 46

Second Half Lead Changes: none

Next up: Xavier will travel to Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, to face Purdue at 4:30 p.m. in the Wooden Tradition. This is XU's third appearance in the Tradition, with the Musketeers still searching for their first win. XU lost to then fifth-ranked Missouri, 72-60, on November 24, 2001. In its last appearance, the Musketeers fell to Indiana in overtime, 80-77, on November 29, 2003.  This will be the 12^th all-time meeting with the Boilermakers, with Purdue holding a 9-2 advantage in the series. The last time the two teams met, Xavier knocked off Purdue at Cintas Center, 74-59, on December 3, 2002. That win halted a Purdue six-game winning streak versus the Musketeers. XU's only other win in the series occurred on December 6, 1947, when Xavier edged the Boilermakers in West Lafayette, 44-43.

Xavier vs. Eastern Illinois

Quotes

Xavier Players

Brian Thornton: "I'm in better shape that I was last year. I'm healthier than I was last year. It feels good to go out there and play well."

"In the first half we didn't shoot that well and so it was Will's [Caudle] turn to establish a dominant presence in the post."

Dedrick Finn: "I know we've been working real hard on it [defense] all summer. It's been a point of emphasis. I'm sure there's a lot of things we need to improve on. Like free throws, turnovers, things like that."

"Our defense down low is tough and our ball pressure - it's a team effort. To hold a team to 35 points, that's pretty good for us."

 

Xavier Head Coach Sean Miller

 

"I was very happy with our team's effort tonight. We're going to be a lot better in certain areas as time goes on. But energy and emotion, that's something that we have right now."

"Brian Thornton was really dominant tonight. The dunk that he had, that's something that would not have been part of his package last year. Brian has worked really hard. I want him to have a really great senior year. He's one of the leaders of our team."

"B.J. [Raymond] missed a couple of shots early. But it was good to see him make one at the end. Johnny [Wolf] played just like he practices. He's rock solid. He ran the offense. He's a good player. Josh [Duncan] missed a couple of shots, uncharacteristically, that he normally can make. But the same shots went down in the second half. I think he'll get more comfortable down low too."

Schedule

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Players Mentioned

Stanley Burrell

Justin Cage

Justin Doellman

Josh Duncan

B.J. Raymond

Johnny Wolf

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