On The Horizon

Jim Squire

Sunday's Shootaround--Ballin' is a Habit

West Virginia 80, Cleveland State 78: Every Big East coach should get their hands on this game tape, as the Vikings exposed the Mountaineers weakness - zone's. WVU jumped out to a 55-38 lead early in the second half, but struggled down the stretch as Cleveland State forced 11 second half turnovers using a 2-3 zone and a zone pressure. Cleveland State tied this game at 78 with 13 seconds remaining, setting up this exciting finish:

Kevin Jones had 23 to lead WVU, while Da'Sean Butler added 18 points and 9 boards. Norris Cole led CSU with 29.

Butler 69, Xavier 68: As we already discussed, this game had a crazy, controversial finish. Gordon Hayward played great this afternoon, finishing with 22 points, 14 boards, and countless big plays. Matt Howard, the Horizon's reigning player of the year, struggled once again. It has to be a confidence issue at this point, because Howard is a good basketball player, but there may not be another good player in the country playing as badly as Howard is right now. He's shooting just 41% from the floor, averaging an absurd 4.1 fouls per game, and looks unsure of himself when he has the ball in the post. One play in paticular stands out in my mind. During the second half, Howard rolled of a screen and Mack found him with a nice pass. Howard had an open lane to the rim from about 12 feet out, but instead of attacking the basket he tried to throw a cross court pass to Hayward in the corner. The pass was picked off.

It was an ugly-looking Saturday. Let’s peel off a few layers here--College Hoops Journal

No. 6 West Virginia 80, Cleveland State 78. The Mountaineers got a last-second layup from De’Sean Butler to escape on the road against a 4-8 team. What was it about yesterday’s games? A lot of teams seemed to be mired in a snow-affected funk.
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No. 21 Butler 69, Xavier 68. Xavier owned the Bulldogs in the first half. They looked like the better team. The tougher team. The taller team. The hungrier team. Then, as Butler does all the time, it came back. Xavier will get its chance to get a few more wins in a multi-bid A10. From a mid-major perspective, the right team won this game.

Deconstructing the Butler vs. Xavier Finish…--Rush The Court
Saturday's Pregame Beat--Ballin' is a Habit

2:00 pm: Xavier @ Butler: Xavier and Butler are two of the best mid-major programs in the country, but both got of to slow starts this season. Xavier is coming off of a huge home against Cincinnati, a game in which Terrell Holloway and Jason Love took over, but Butler just had a nice win of their own, knocking off Ohio State at home. The biggest issue for Butler this season has been keeping Matt Howard on the floor, and Xavier's bigs of Kenny Frease and Jason Love have been good this season. That said, I'm not sure Xavier has anyone that can match-up with Gordon Hayward.