Tu's Triple-Double Leads X To Win Over Rams

Tu Holloway had 26 points,
11 rebounds, and 10 assists
in XU's win over Fordham.

By:  Cooper Ledford


Fordham was expected to give Xavier a struggle.  No just kidding, they definitely were not.  But they did.  Fordham was last in the conference, 0-11 in A-10 play, and had only 6 wins overall, while Xavier was in 1st place in the A-10, was 10-1 in conference play, and had 19 overall wins.  So, on paper, it looked as if the Musketeers would easily beat the Rams, but that was not the case.  But with a Tu Holloway triple-double, it was the Muskies who came away with a win, 79-72.


Like I said, Tu Holloway had a triple-double.  He had 26 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists.  Maybe he did that because he was trying to impress his mom, who was in attendance, or perhaps it was to impress Jordan Crawford or CJ Anderson, who were also in attendance.  Or maybe is just good.  Oh yeah, and for the record, Tu is the first Xavier player EVER to record two triple-double's in his career.


Two other Musketeers were in double figures, Mark Lyons, and Kenny Frease.  Mark Lyons had 14 points and 6 boards, while Kenny had 14.  Andrew Taylor added 7 points.


Chris Gaston had a great game for the Rams, as he had 26 points, and 11 rebounds.  Brenton Butler had 21 points, and Alberto Estwick added 14 points.


Back to the game.  You may ask "Why was Fordham even in this game?  I thought they were a bad, last place team!" Well, the reason why the hang around in this one was because of their success from behind the line.  The Rams were 10-22 from three-country, that is 45.5%, much better than XU as they were 4-16 and 25% from behind the line.  Also, another reason was because of how good Fordham's rebounding was.  They had 13 offensive rebounds, as opposed to 5 offensive rebounds for X.  Fordham had 36 total boards, as opposed to 29 for the X-Men.  So there you have it, that is why Fordham was even in this game.


Even though the Musketeers did not do as well as expected, they pick up the win and that is all that matters.  XU is now 20-6 overall, and 11-1 in the A-10, while Fordham falls to 6-18, and 0-12 in the A-10.  For Xavier, they should be in the ESPN/USA Today Coach's poll this week, as long as a top 25 team falls out of the rankings.  


The 1st place Xavier Musketeers will be back in action on Tuesday, as they will host the La Salle Explorers at 7 PM ET.  You can catch that game on CBS College Sports.

Muskies Beat DU, Lead A-10

XU's Dante Jackson tied his
career-high in points with 19 in
Xavier's win over Duquesne.

By: Cooper Ledford


The Xavier Musketeers and the Duquesne Dukes were tied for 1st place in the Atlantic 10, as they both were 8-1 in conference play.  XU and DU met up in the city of Pittsburgh to determine the A-10 leader.  The Dukes were favored, but it was Xavier who pulled away with a win, and move atop the A-10 by-themselves, as the final is 71-63.


Xavier lead majority of the 1st half, as they had as much as a 10 point lead with 7:40 to go, but the Dukes would fight back and take the lead before the half, 37-36.


In the 2nd half the game would go back-and-forth until there was 7:53 to go, and the Muskies went on an 8-0 run and never really looked back.


A big reason the X-Men won was because of how many free throw opportunities they got, as they had 30 chances for some free points, and were successful on 22 of them.  As for the Dukes, they had their chances, 27
to be exact, but did poorly at converting them, as they shot 13-27.


Tu Holloway lead the way with 20 points, but Dante Jackson was the story of the game, as he tied a career-high with 19 points, and shot 4-6 from triple country.  Kenny Frease had a double-double, as he had 12 points and 12 rebounds.  Jamel McLean added 10 points and 9 boards.


Let's talk about Tu Holloway.  Coach Mack pulled him out of the game with a little over 11 minutes to play in the 2nd and out Mark Lyons in, as Tu was not getting the job done.  Well, shortly after that, with about 11 and a half to play, Lyons fouled out, and Tu came back in, and played like the Tu we know.  Perhaps Coach Mack will ask Lyons to foul out more.


B.J. Monteiro lead the way for Duquesne, as he had 17 points.  Bill Clark had a double-double, as he had 14 points and 11 rebounds.  Saunders added 11 points.


So, Xavier goes to 18-6 overall, and 9-1 in conference play, while DU falls to 16-7 and 8-2 in conference play.


Next, the A-10 leading Xavier Musketeers will head to the City Of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, to take on St. Joseph's.  That game will be on Wednesday at 7:00 PM ET and you can catch the game on CBS College Sports.