Xavier is a really good team

[UConnSwag11]

Tough loss. I still think we could’ve won with a different lineup down the stretch. Luke and Moore need to tell Danny to STFU at times. Good thing this game was on the road and we get the rematch at home.

On to PC for another tough battle. Their fans give them a great home court advantage.

 

[housekeys]

I agree. They rose to the occasion. We were not as bad as many are making it out. Despite X looking damn good we are tied down the stretch and the T was too much to overcome.

 

[jake14mw]

I agree. Xavier just took this game from UConn. Great team effort from them, I was impressed.

 

[Conndog]

Xavier seemed every bit as good as UConn today, realistically better. Even if people think they played better than should be expected, question should be, why did UConn let them?

 

[AuRevoirAAC]

That was a great Xavier team. Similar to us, they have tremendous depth - and Coach Miller has them playing hard on every possession. Jones and Boum are tough as hell and finish strong around the rim. Freemantle and Nunge are a legitimate threat in the front court with veteran experience, and having a guy like Hunter off the bench is the ultimate game changer for X. We really had not answer for that combination in Game 1, but I can assure you Game 2 (and hopefully 3) will be must watch television. Good game Xavier… glad to be playing a team of your caliber instead of Tulane and Tulsa. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Xavier make a deep run in March. That game was played like a battle in the second weekend.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Hurley’s childish antics again, took away from an otherwise great game. I still can’t believe he’s doing that on year 5 with the #2 team in the country.


We have the talent to win these games and make a run. We have to mix up the lineups when the time calls for it. Some players might not play as much. We should be imposing our will on teams. Not the other way around.

Looking forward to PC. I hope we come out and bury them

 

[ctchamps]

Hurley’s childish antics again, took away from an otherwise great game. I still can’t believe he’s doing that on year 5 with the #2 team in the country.


We have the talent to win these games and make a run. We have to mix up the lineups when the time calls for it. Some players might not play as much. We should be imposing our will on teams. Not the other way around.

Looking forward to PC. I hope we come out and bury them

He kept his composure first half and team goes from ten down to a one point lead at halftime.

Second half he loses his cool with us up two, calling a questionable TO to take Clingan out of game and going away from substitution patterns he had all season.

 

[UCTitleTown]

Remember in 2011 when Louisville crushed us twice including once by 35 points and we won the national championship. Sometimes it's just a bad match-up. We couldn't deal with Xavier's passing and ball movement. They made us look foolish.

 

[phillionaire]

New Year’s Eve is a cursed day for our basketball team can’t remember the last time we won on nye

 

[YoungFree]

Tough loss. I still think we could’ve won with a different lineup down the stretch. Luke and Moore need to tell Danny to STFU at times. Good thing this game was on the road and we get the rematch at home.

On to PC for another tough battle. Their fans give them a great home court advantage.

8 in a row for them, and their losses are vs solid teams. They are a top 15 team....we weren't playing FAMU like Purdeeewww.

 

[Sea Goat]

Tough loss... I am the antithesis of a Hurley toadie, but with a tightly played game it is inconceivable that one team gets 28FT to 9FT? Having said that, not a bad time to lose. You want your ass kicked at the playground in the first half of the year,...

 

[HooperScooper]

I never like when the Huskies lose but I'm fine with this loss. It was unrealistic to think they would go undefeated and they just played what is probably the 2nd best team on the road. If they were going to lose then today was probably the "best loss" they'll have the rest of the season.

I just hope they learned something from this game and can use that to their benefit and bounce back. That's more important to me.

 

[Scoe]

This should move Xavier to 15th and drop us no further then 7 or 8.

 

[Ratso]

that’s a sweet 16 game right there

 

[Gurleyman]

Tough loss... I am the antithesis of a Hurley toadie, but with a tightly played game it is inconceivable that one team gets 28FT to 9FT? Having said that, not a bad time to lose. You want your ass kicked at the playground in the first half of the year,...

Six of them were on purpose in the final minute - and the tech. Still a discrepancy of 20-9 if you take those away, but not quite as pronounced.

There were some calls that bugged me. Tie game late, a soft offensive foul on Hawkins followed immediately by Fremantle creaming AJ with an illegal screen that led to their go-ahead basket, followed by the soft foul on Newton that led to the tech. Right before that Hawkins got the three free throws when he kicked his leg out (first one was a legit foul - second one was a bad call I thought). That might have been the only call we got all night but it was three foul shots down by six so it was a good time to get it.

The offensive foul on Newton in the first half (Kunkel flop) was perfectly awful - and the sideline ref behind the play was in absolutely no position to make that call. Should be a textbook example in ref school on why you don’t make calls when you aren’t in proper position.

There were also a couple instances - more annoying than something to argue - when they finally called a foul on X and it took away an advantage. Clingan had a dunk coming, but they called a foul on the entry pass. Diarra also had his man beat in the first half and we had to come back out and reset. Drives me nuts as a fan (“oh, NOW you blow your whistle) - but it’s not like officials are so diabolical that they are anticipating what‘s about to happen and take it away.

 

[gtcam]

UConn lost in the coaching box
Miller switched personnel expertly and Dan Hurley didn't. Period.

 

[HuskyBaggins]

Six of them were on purpose in the final minute - and the tech. Still a discrepancy of 20-9 if you take those away, but not quite as pronounced.

There were some calls that bugged me. Tie game late, a soft offensive foul on Hawkins followed immediately by Fremantle creaming AJ with an illegal screen that led to their go-ahead basket, followed by the soft foul on Newton that led to the tech. Right before that Hawkins got the three free throws when he kicked his leg out (first one was a legit foul - second one was a bad call I thought). That might have been the only call we got all night but it was three foul shots down by six so it was a good time to get it.

The offensive foul on Newton in the first half (Kunkel flop) was perfectly awful - and the sideline ref behind the play was in absolutely no position to make that call. Should be a textbook example in ref school on why you don’t make calls when you aren’t in proper position.

There were also a couple instances - more annoying than something to argue - when they finally called a foul on X and it took away an advantage. Clingan had a dunk coming, but they called a foul on the entry pass. Diarra also had his man beat in the first half and we had to come back out and reset. Drives me nuts as a fan (“oh, NOW you blow your whistle) - but it’s not like officials are so diabolical that they are anticipating what‘s about to happen and take it away.

Indeed. Never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence. Officiating was just bad.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Tough loss. I still think we could’ve won with a different lineup down the stretch. Luke and Moore need to tell Danny to STFU at times. Good thing this game was on the road and we get the rematch at home.

On to PC for another tough battle. Their fans give them a great home court advantage.

Meh! Theyre alright. We had our worst game of the season with poor defense, Sanogo and Hawk coming up small and Dan Hurley pooped the bed and we still were in position to win the game late while X played their best game of the season and a 29 to 9 edge at free throw attempts which im sure was totally legit on the part of the refs.

 

[Palatine]

We're lucky that Calhoun isn't our coach. The BY would be taking up a collection to have him executed.

Danny is a good coach because he is passionate to a fault. He is driven. He is tough. Do you want his fire, commitment, single-mindedness, obsession? He doesn't suffer fools gladly. You take the good with the bad.

 

[Dean Wormer]

We're lucky that Calhoun isn't our coach. The BY would be taking up a collection to have him executed.

Danny is a good coach because he is passionate to a fault. He is driven. He is tough. Do you want his fire, commitment, single-mindedness, obsession? He doesn't suffer fools gladly. You take the good with the bad.

I like Dan Hurley too and for all the reasons listed.
But why can't he be all of those things and still under control? How many late game T's does he need before he accepts that constantly going after the refs is stupid and not productive.
Based on some of his comments I think he doesn't really get it about the behavior and how damaging it is. Fair or not it's obvious officials are watching him, and it's up to him to sack up, grow up, and keep it together.

 

[Punkbo]

X is a good team. We’re better. We win that game on a neutral court. Their game plan was excellent. They were hawking Hawkins, crushing Karaban, slashing by Sanogo, turning over Tristen….you get the point. Miller might not be the best role model for your children, but he’s an excellent coach.

 

[Palatine]

X is a good team. We’re better. We win that game on a neutral court. Their game plan was excellent. They were hawking Hawkins, crushing Karaban, slashing by Sanogo, turning over Tristen….you get the point. Miller might not be the best role model for your children, but he’s an excellent coach.

They were also mugging Sanogo with immunity from the refs.

 

[10TOES]

I rewatched the game again today... I felt like I was emotionally ready. I found myself screaming at the TV as much if not more as on Saturday.


My biggest takeaway:

We had the lead up to 7 (50-43) with 17:48 to go. Xavier quickly brought it back to a two point game (50-48) with 16:50 to go. Over the next 6:30min we gave up 10 points, but we only scored 8, we missed 2 free throws, had +/-5 good shots go in and out that have been dropping all year and 4-5 rebounds in our hands that got tipped right to Xavier. The missed fouls by the refs were ultimately the dagger. This is the sweet spot of the game where we typically have put teams away. Many on the board have said it, but this is where we typically have the bench wear teams out and make the smart plays to tack on points and go on the 12pt signature runs. We looked tired ourselves for the first time that I can remember all season.

With all that being said, if a couple of the shots that were in and out drop or we secure a couple of those rebounds in that 8 min part of the game, we win.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Their guard play was the difference

 

[Kolumbo]

So, only 2 P6 programs in the entire state of Ohio and X is the better of the 2. Not bad for the Big East.

 

[Punkbo]

They were also mugging Sanogo with immunity from the refs.

Yup. That was a problem and is part of the home-court advantage. Refs are human. They want to be heroes, not villains. They want to hear cheers, not boos. It’s one of the reasons why it’s a challenge to win on the road. If you go to the old Boston Garden and cheer for Pat Verbeek to beat up Randy Burridge, you may get a bottle to the side of the head. Sanogo was feeling our pain in your example.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

I rewatched the game again today... I felt like I was emotionally ready. I found myself screaming at the TV as much if not more as on Saturday.


My biggest takeaway:

We had the lead up to 7 (50-43) with 17:48 to go. Xavier quickly brought it back to a two point game (50-48) with 16:50 to go. Over the next 6:30min we gave up 10 points, but we only scored 8, we missed 2 free throws, had +/-5 good shots go in and out that have been dropping all year and 4-5 rebounds in our hands that got tipped right to Xavier. The missed fouls by the refs were ultimately the dagger. This is the sweet spot of the game where we typically have put teams away. Many on the board have said it, but this is where we typically have the bench wear teams out and make the smart plays to tack on points and go on the 12pt signature runs. We looked tired ourselves for the first time that I can remember all season.

With all that being said, if a couple of the shots that were in and out drop or we secure a couple of those rebounds in that 8 min part of the game, we win.

I agree that was an absolutely pivotal inflection point in the game.

We put a big run on them pre-halftime to take the lead 42-41. Took the wind out of their sails. Then, started the 2nd half on a 6-2 run to make it 48-43. Xavier Timeout.

We then forced a TO, but couldn't capitalize (Hawkins missed 3). We missed a couple more shots and committed a couple bad turnover over the next couple minutes. Had some great opportunities to stretch it to double-digits, but just didn't execute.

We get it to double digits, it very easily could have had a completely different 2nd half trajectory...crowd silenced, etc. The rest of how it played out never even happens.

 

[Scrutineer]

Six of them were on purpose in the final minute - and the tech. Still a discrepancy of 20-9 if you take those away, but not quite as pronounced.

There were some calls that bugged me. Tie game late, a soft offensive foul on Hawkins followed immediately by Fremantle creaming AJ with an illegal screen that led to their go-ahead basket, followed by the soft foul on Newton that led to the tech. Right before that Hawkins got the three free throws when he kicked his leg out (first one was a legit foul - second one was a bad call I thought). That might have been the only call we got all night but it was three foul shots down by six so it was a good time to get it.

The offensive foul on Newton in the first half (Kunkel flop) was perfectly awful - and the sideline ref behind the play was in absolutely no position to make that call. Should be a textbook example in ref school on why you don’t make calls when you aren’t in proper position.

There were also a couple instances - more annoying than something to argue - when they finally called a foul on X and it took away an advantage. Clingan had a dunk coming, but they called a foul on the entry pass. Diarra also had his man beat in the first half and we had to come back out and reset. Drives me nuts as a fan (“oh, NOW you blow your whistle) - but it’s not like officials are so diabolical that they are anticipating what‘s about to happen and take it away.

We need a rule like hockey has on "delayed" penalties so calls made don't penalize the offense when they are on a fast break or dunking. Drives me nuts to see a sure basket taken away.

 

[HooperScooper]

Revenge game back home is one of the 10 most exciting games to look forward to in 2023 according to CBSSports.com.

No. 18 Xavier at No. 4 UConn (Jan. 25)​

After the Musketeers ended the Huskies' perfect start to the season, UConn gets a chance for revenge at home. Xavier ranks in the top 10 nationally in offensive efficiency and leads all major-conference teams in 3-point shooting percentage (40.4%), and it's the only major-conference team with four players averaging at least 14 points.

UConn, of course, has its eyes on a Final Four run. Potential national player of the year Adama Sanogo leads a Huskies team that ranks top-10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. He has plenty of help around him as UConn is one of the country's deepest teams.

Kentucky vs. Tennessee, UCLA vs. Arizona among 10 most exciting college basketball games ahead in 2023

And who can forget Duke vs. North Carolina to close out the regular season?

www.cbssports.com