AMHERST, Mass. – In a just-completed three-game homestand, Xavier re-asserted themselves as the team to beat in the Atlantic 10. You never quite know how a coaching change, even with a new coach who has been on the staff, will go, but it appears to be seamless thus far as the Musketeers entered with a 7-1 Atlantic 10 mark after another good non-conference run. But going back on the road, things were a little different despite getting another win.
The Musketeers rolled in their three home games in increasingly convincing fashion. It started with a 72-61 win over Rhode Island, another team with a good shot at making the NCAA Tournament. An 86-50 romp over Duquesne was next, followed by a 108-60 trouncing of Fordham.
For a while, it looked like Wednesday’s game would be more of the same, except the margin of victory might not be as high. In the first half, Xavier shot 64.5 percent from the field, going 5-9 from long range, and led 50-33 at the break. They took the lead for good in the half with an 18-0 run as they got one run-out after another, often following UMass settling for a three-pointer.
“I thought we were playing exceptionally well in the first half,” head coach Chris Mack.
Then the second half came.
The Minutemen came alive defensively, and suddenly an 11-2 run made it interesting. With 10:46 left, they were within one possession, and a little over three minutes later they took the lead. Then it was back and forth until Jordan Crawford started to play like the best player on the team and hit two three-pointers to lead a decisive run of nine unanswered points to turn a 69-68 deficit into a 77-69 lead. The Atlantic 10’s leading scorer had a game-high 25 points, 14 in the second half.
“He’s a guy that can take over the game,” Mack said of Crawford. “I thought, as an offense we just were out of sync, and I give UMass a lot of credit. They pressured our big guys way out on the floor, we stood still too much early in the second half.”
Mack remembered the Musketeers’ first Atlantic 10 game, a 68-62 win at La Salle. In that game, the Musketeers shut down La Salle in the first half en route to a 41-26 halftime lead, and they built the lead to 20 in the second half before the Explorers tied the game by scoring 16 unanswered points over a stretch of more than seven minutes.
“We were up big at halftime at La Salle, and we told them the first four minutes was going to set the tone for the rest of the game, and it did,” Mack said. “Unfortunately, it set the tone for UMass being energized, it got them back in the game, and I thought their defensive energy and aggressiveness took us out, and it became a ballgame. I’m happy that we won, but I’m disappointed with the way we played in the second half.”
This could easily be a case of going on the road being more difficult, and perhaps they caught UMass on a good night for the Minutemen. They still got the win, which is most important. But as this wasn’t the first time Xavier squandered a big lead in the second half in Atlantic 10 play is certainly concerning for the coaching staff. They came into the game on a roll, and that may have stopped for now save for the reality of getting the win. It may also just be a small and inevitable bump in the road. With trips to Dayton and Florida up next, that’s probably not how they want to play.
With an 8-1 mark in the Atlantic 10, Xavier is once again the team to beat. But if the UMass game is any indication, they are far from invincible, especially when they have to go on the road. When they play well, they play very well, but they can also squander leads and put themselves in a position to lose games. That’s not a position they were in the prior three games.
