Xavier University Athletics
Post Game Notes
01.08.09 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 8, 2009
Quotes |
Photo Gallery 
No. 16 AP/18 ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll Xavier University Musketeers
vs.
Saint Louis University Billikens
January 8, 2009
Game Notes
Derrick Brown scored a perfectly efficient 20 points to lead No. 16/18 Xavier (12-2, 1-0 A-10) to a 70-44 victory against St. Louis (9-6, 0-1 A-10) in the Atlantic 10 Conference opener for both teams. Brown’s 20 points came on a 6-for-6 performance from the field, including a trio of three-pointers, and 5-for-5 from the free throw line. C.J. Anderson added 13 points and Jason Love 11 to pace the Musketeers. Anderson, Love, and Jamel McLean each grabbed six rebounds and Danté Jackson dished out six assists. St. Louis was led by Kevin Lisch who scored nine points, Barry Eberhardt grabbed seven rebounds, and Tommie Liddell and Kevin Lisch each had two assists.
Xavier is now 113-17 (.869) overall during its nine seasons at Cintas Center, and 55-10 (.846) against Atlantic 10 competition in its on-campus home arena.
Xavier held St. Louis to just 30.8 percent (16-for-52) shooting from the field, making it the 11th time in 14 games that an XU opponent has failed to shoot better than 40 percent against the Musketeers. Xavier is now holding opponents to just under 37 percent shooting (.3696) from the field this season.
Xavier held Saint Louis to a season-low 44 points. The previous low-scoring game for the Billikens was 48, which they did in the season opener against Missouri-St. Louis (11-13-08) and at Southern Illinois (12-2-08). The Musketeers held St. Louis to just 30.8 percent (16-for-52) shooting from the field, also an SLU season low. The Billikens’ two leading scorers coming into the game, Tommie Liddell (14.1 ppg) and Kevin Lisch (13.8 ppg), were held in check by Xavier. Liddell scored just 5 points and Lisch 9 points on a combined 6-for-25 shooting night. The Billikens’ scored just one basket in the final 10 minutes of the game.
Xavier turned the ball over a season-low eight times. The previous season low was nine turnovers against Miami (11-29-08). During the last two games (SLU and Virginia) XU has turned the ball over just 18 times. Prior to the Virginia game, XU was averaging 16.3 turnovers per game.
Xavier’s 39 first-half points were the most given up by SLU in the first half this season. The previous high was 37 by Nebraska (11-25-08).
Career Highs
Derrick Brown’s game-high 20 points came on a perfect shooting line, hitting 6-for-6 from the field, including three three-pointers, and 5-for-5 from the free throw line. The last XU player to register such a performance was Josh Duncan who scored 23 points on 8-for-8 shooting from the field, 3-for-3 from behind the three-point arc, and 4-for-4 from the free throw line at Rhode Island (2-11-08). Brown matched his career high with three three-pointers. He also hit a trio of triples against Butler (12-23-08) and Ohio (12-10-08).
Up Next: Xavier embarks on a two-game, road swing against a pair of Rams, starting Sunday, January 11, at Fordham. The Musketeers lead the series with the Rams 16-3, including four straight. Last season, B.J. Raymond scored a game-high 20 points to lead XU to a 68-50 victory against Fordham at Cintas Center on January 12, 2008. Derrick Brown and Josh Duncan each added 10 points. In that contest, the Musketeers led 32-26 at halftime, then used an 8-0 run to begin the second stanza to bump the lead to 40-26 and led by double digits the rest of the game. The win also marked XU’s 100th all-time victory at Cintas Center. Following the Fordham game, XU travels to Rhode Island to face the Rams on Thursday, January 15. XU leads the series with Rhode Island 14-3, including an 81-77 victory in Kingston on February 18 last season. In that game, Josh Duncan poured in 23 points while B.J. Raymond added 14 to pace the Musketeers. XU led by 10 at half, but fell behind in the second half, trailing 59-57 at the under eight minute timeout. The Musketeers rallied late in the game with a 9-1 run to build a 69-61 lead and held off a frantic Rhode Island rally in the final minutes.
