X Scores 100, Beats La Salle, Tu Has Near Triple-Double

By:  Cooper Ledford


With Jeff Robinson scoring 22 points, and being the leading scorer for the Muskies, you would think he would be the star of the game, but that would be wrong.  Tu Holloway was the star (surprise-surprise), as he had 12 points, 15 assists, and 9 rebounds.  So a near triple-double, what is so special about that?  Well, had he gotten one more board, he would have had his second consecutive triple-double, that NEVER happens.  He had a chance, until there was 3 minutes left and Coach Mack took him out.  The crowd at the Cintas Center was not pleased, as they were chanting "We Want Tu!".  Chris Mack did not listen.  Anyways, XU beat La Salle, 100-62.


But, still a good outing for Tu Holloway.  Jamel McLean also had a good outing, as he had 12 points and 5 boards, Kenny Frease had 10 points and 9 boards, and Dante Jackson had 9 points.  Mark Lyons started on the bench today, as he was a bit shaken up I guess (I dunno for sure, I did not get to watch the game), but still managed to have 15 points.  Jay Canty added 10 points.  So 6 Muskies in double-figures.  Yep, that will get you 100 points.


La Salle was never in this game, I mean it was 1-0 at one point with X on top, but that was as close as it got. It was like 18-4 at one point, and 50-18, crazy.  The Musketeers out-assisted the Explorers 30-9, and out-rebounded them 34-22.  La Salle was only 19-53 from the floor, that will hurt ya too.


So, Xavier wins 100-64, go to 21-6, and 12-1 in the A-10, while La Salle falls to 12-16 overall, and 4-9 in the A-10.  


Up next, the 1st place Muskies will go up north to take on their hated rivals, the Dayton Flyers.  That game will be Sunday at 1:00 PM ET and will be on ESPN or ESPN2. 

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.