Each year the Crosstown Shootout serves up an opportunity for players to write their names in the lore of the best rivalry in college basketball. The names and the memories are never far from the minds of Xavier fans when this game is brought up. Lenny in the lane. David West sonning Jason Maxiell. Tu Holloway putting the team on his back in OT. Dee Davis splashing the clutchest three after UC walked away from him on the perimeter. Ed Sumner ending Octavius Ellis. “Enes Kanter’s little brother” breaking UC’s spirits before the midpoint of the first half. Quincy Olivari drilling every even remotely open look he got on his way to 27. Tonight, another name joined their ranks and showed that this season that looked like it was coming off the rails well and truly has life.
Tre Carroll scored his first points of the night on his only made three of the night, although he would go ahead and try 4 more just to make sure he had used all his makes up, which gave Xavier an early lead and would prove crucial as Cincinnati stretched their defense to check him on the perimeter especially in the first half. He was Xaiver’s standout player in the opening frame with Jovan Milicevic (12/3/2) in foul trouble, although mention must be made of the minutes Pape N’Diaye (3/3/0, 2 blocks) provided with Jovan on the bench. Filip Borovicanin (12/2/4) was the only player other than Carroll to make multiple field goal attempts in the first half for Xavier as both teams struggled in the half court and went into the break each feeling that the game was there for the taking with the scores knotted at 37 and neither team feeling like they had played their best basketball.
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Out of the break Cincinnati scored the first basket but Xavier threw the first punch. Carroll’s full arsenal was on display as he drove onto his favored left hand for a basket, exploited mismatches, worked Cincinnati’s vaunted post defenders on the block, and generally looked like the guy who decided that his team was going to win this game. He scored 8 straight and and 10 in Xavier’s 13-0 run which stretched their lead to double digits for the first time all night and put the Bearcats well and truly on the ropes. After a quick 4-0 from Wes Miller’s soon to be former charges, Milicevic and Roddie Anderson (8/1/1) cashed out from behind the arc on back to back trips and for a moment with 12:21 left it looked like Xavier was going to run away with this one.
Slowly but surely Cincinnati chipped away at Xavier’s 13 point margin. First it was a 5-0 spurt entirely created by Day Day Thomas, to which Milicevic responded. The Bearcats got 4 more to cut it to 6, but Malik Messina-Moore (4/5/6) hit a turnaround to push them back. The teams exchanged buckets before 5 straight second chance points put UC back within a possession. Tre Carroll started heating back up with 5:20 to play when his jumper pushed Xavier’s lead back to 5. After a Kerr Kriisa three, his spinning, flailing finish through Baba Miller’s attempt to drag him to the floor sent Xavier to the final media timeout with a four point lead to guard and set the stage for someone to become a hero.
After Kriisa hit a pair of free throws off a foul call that I have to assume Pat Driscoll made just to see if he could get away with it, Xavier turned the ball over on back to back possessions, their only two turnovers of the second half. A Jalen Celestine three with 2:39 left had UC in front for the first time in over 15 game minutes, but it was immediately answered when All Wirght (6/5/4) found Borovicanin for an absolutely bloodless three to give Xavier its final lead of the game. From there, Carroll finished off what was left of the idea that UC’s front line is anything other than flat track bullies with his last two buckets taking him to a final line of 30/7/1 with a block and a steal. There was the usual desperation fouling as the game slipped away from UC (again), but All Wright’s 4-4 over the last 41 seconds were enough to cover for Carroll and Milicevic going 1-3 and Xavier stopped their longest Crosstown Shootout losing streak of the 21st Century at 1.
Takeaways
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These guys are fun– It was maddening at times, especially when Cincinnati took control of the offensive glass in the second half, but Xavier’s fast, perimeter centered style is entertaining and the amount of time this team spends throwing themselves every which way at a seemingly untenable pace without turning the ball over is enjoyable to watch, especially when the three pointers are falling.
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Apparently they can make twos– Xavier has been almost comically bad at the converting from inside the arc this season and Cincinnati hangs their hat on their ability to keep the NJITs and Georgia States of this world from scoring in there. Tonight, Xavier was 24-36 inside the arc and UC blocked 4 shots, none of which came in the second half as Tre Carroll took their lunch money in crunch time. The three wasn’t falling the way it usually was tonight, but X was able to flip a switch and carve up a vaunted front line when they needed to.
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Gritty, not pretty– If there was ever a game that fit Big Frosty’s mantra it might well have been this one. Xavier was 6-28 from deep, 13-23 at the line, only got 5 offensive rebounds, and had their two staring guards combine for 10 points on 3-11 shooting. Yet they still found a way to win this game by only committing 4 turnovers and outscoring UC both off turnovers and in the paint. It was a rivalry game in which they had to dig deep and make winning plays over the last two minutes and even guys who had not had their best nights, namely Messina-Moore and Wright, made hugely important plays to get this one over the line. Things aren’t going to go perfectly every time out, but it has been encouraging to watch this group grow in their ability to keep themselves in games even when it doesn’t.
