Banners On The Parkway - Xavier v. Robert MorrisYour only remaining free source for Xavier Musketeers newshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47177/banners-fave.png2012-11-18T10:01:07-05:00http://www.bannersontheparkway.com/rss/stream/34220412012-11-18T10:01:07-05:002012-11-18T10:01:07-05:00Game Recap: Xavier 61-59 Robert Morris
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<img alt="Coach Chris Mack couldn't have been happy with what he saw on Saturday." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/soyHGeazfrN98hMlWWnh1WU61PI=/0x427:3187x2552/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/3463601/20121113_mje_sv4_485.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Coach Chris Mack couldn't have been happy with what he saw on Saturday. | Frank Victores-US PRESSWIRE</figcaption>
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<p>Robert Morris was exactly as advertised, and suddenly Xavier feels a lot closer to earth. Still, 3-0 is 3-0 and, when it mattered, the Musketeers did exactly what they had to do.</p> <p>Yikes. After a demolition of Fairleigh Dickinson and then a rolling of Butler it seemed like #SHOCKTHEWORLD was transitioning from a hashtag to a reality. Xavier came into the game feeling very much like a team that had embraced its underdog status and was ready to show everyone that they were still loaded with talent. The Colonials of Robert Morris, though, had other ideas. Not unfamiliar with the underdog role, RMU showed up at the Cintas ready to bring the feel good story to a screeching halt.</p>
<p>At the first media timeout Robert Morris was leading 14-12 and hadn't missed from deep, burying all of their first four attempts. Xavier was responding in kind, but the defense that both times supposedly pride themselves on wasn't yet in attendance. At the 11:29 mark Xavier drew even at 19-19 and the game devolved into a sloppy affair. Xavier also got the next seven points to begin to open the gap, but the starting backcourt of Christon and Davis combined for three turnovers and a missed three pointer in four of the next five possessions to keep the lead from stretching. With 1:24 left in the first half, RMU was back within one after a scramble for the ball saw it end up in the hands of Karvel Anderson, who wasn't in the business of missing in the first half. Davis scored four to give Xavier a 36-31 edge at the half, but the Musketeers didn't look much like pulling away.</p>
<p>The guard play was the biggest question coming into this season. Xavier has the bigs to play with most teams without giving up too much (especially with Isaiah Philmore returning). On the perimeter, though, this team is woefully thin. Coming into the Robert Morris game, things had gone well. Dee Davis was sporting a 3.4 A/TO and Semaj Christon had contributed eight assists in the game he played. Unfortunately, those numbers don't add up to experience. Xavier needed a steady hand on the wheel against the Colonials, and for most of the game it wasn't there. Davis and Christon combined to commit ten turnovers, a number only somewhat excused by the six assists Christon managed.</p>
<p>The second half went back and forth without either team ever in control of it. Xavier led by six on three different occasions and even as late as eight minutes to play, but never was able to stretch that lead into a meaningful one. For their part, the Colonials shot 4-18 from deep after their scorching 5-6 start and missed opportunity after opportunity to tie or take the lead. Xavier, meanwhile, was disjointed offensively and never got any sort of rhythm going at all. Semaj Christon was felled with cramps with 4:18 to go, right when he looked like he wanted the game to come to him.</p>
<p>When Christon went down, so did most of Xavier's offense for the last three minutes. With 4:18 to play and clinging to a two point lead, things didn't look good for the young Musketeers. Less than 30 seconds later the Colonials were level for the first time since 19-19. Jeff Robinson took a pass from Dee Davis and put Xavier back up tow, but Robert Morris evened it back up following Brad Redford capping his 0-5 night from the floor. After that, the teams put together this brilliant exhibition of basketball: foul, foul, timeout, inexcusable miss by Travis Taylor, timeout, miss.</p>
<p>That last miss left Xavier with the ball and no timeouts. Dee Davis, who had struggled all game, caught the ball left side high and motioned for his teammates to clear the lane. Brad Redford drifted into the deep right corner as Davis drove hard to the top of the key. A quick show back to his left and a glance to his right and Davis was driving at the rim, looking for all the world like he was going to try to pull a Tu Holloway. Fearing just that, Brad Redford's man took one step in. Without any hesitation or even a look, Davis drilled Redford in the chest with a perfect pass. Redford's man, having already broken on rule of good defense, broke a couple more by not closing out under control and then leaving his feet at Redford's pump fake. The senior guard took a snake dribble, initiated contact, and got to head to the line for a well-earned two free throws.</p>
<p>Redford made both free throws, but it was Davis who had made the play. That left Robert Morris 37 seconds to tie or win the game. They got three looks at it thanks to Justin Martin being unable to corral a rebound, but the Musketeers hung on. It was ugly, it was inefficient, it reminded everyone that this is a young team, but it was a win. The Musketeers head west at a wholly unexpected 3-0.</p>
<p><b>Three Answers:</b></p>
<p><b>How deep is Xavier? </b>Not very. Seven players got minutes today. Thankfully, the seven who played were all reasonably effective as far as this game went. Erik Stenger was the only one not to score, but he did contribute four rebounds and all his usual glue guys stuff. Seven deep isn't a recipe for lasting success.</p>
<p><b>Is Jeff Robinson for real? </b>7/4/0 on 2-3/0-0/3-4. Jeff played 33 reasonably useful minutes and didn't force his shot, even when things weren't going well. I'm not certain if that makes you for real or not. He also chipped in a steal, two blocks, and only one turnover. Jeff wasn't a star today, but he didn't play like he has the last years either, so it was at least a partial success.</p>
<p><b>How soon can Semaj Christon get up to speed? </b>Semaj clearly wanted the ball late and was doing a decent job getting Xavier over the hump when cramps ended his game with 4:18 to play. 12/1/6 is a good line and Christon did manage 30 minutes. Clearly, however, his body is not yet ready to handle a full game. That should have time to change by 2pm on Thanksgiving day.</p>
<p><b>Next Game: </b>Pacific at 2pm (EST) on Thanksgiving Day. Turn off the meaningless football and get to ESPNU or ESPN3 for the Musketeers.</p>
https://www.bannersontheparkway.com/2012/11/18/3660060/game-recap-xavier-61-59-rmuBrad D2012-11-17T16:43:31-05:002012-11-17T16:43:31-05:00Boxscore Breakdown
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<img alt="Coach Mack didn't love the process, but he'll take the result of today's game." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ND5qVHA2PUu4jmWbMEcdSM7UbnY=/0x470:2660x2243/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/3449257/156338189.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Coach Mack didn't love the process, but he'll take the result of today's game. | Joe Robbins</figcaption>
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<p>It was like work for Xavier at times as Robert Morris found their shooting eye and packed in the defense, but the Musketeers clawed their way through a 61-59 win.</p> <div style="text-align: center;"><b>What happened: Xavier 61 - Robert Morris 59</b></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">At the end of the game, there's one statistic that matters, and that's the final score. Xavier was on the right end of that one today, taking the Musketeers to a somewhat unexpected 3-0 record. With three home wins under the team's belt, the Muskies will be heading west for the Anaheim Classic over the Thanksgiving weekend on a good note.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">Before we get to some individual stats, there are a couple of things that happened on the team level that made this Xavier's ugliest game of the season. After a couple of very impressive efforts from Xavier's back court, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/174689/semaj-christon">Semaj Christon</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/146538/dee-davis">Dee Davis</a> each had five turnovers, contributing to the 15 on the game for the Muskies. Xavier's last turnover came with 4:06 left in the game; stemming that tide was vital to Xavier holding onto the narrow victory.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">We also mentioned in our preview that Robert Morris was relentless on the boards and targeted that as an important area of the game for Xavier. Robert Morris beat Xavier 28-27 in rebounding, but - more importantly - the Colonials grabbed 11 offensive boards to Xavier's 5. Somewhat miraculously, Robert Morris only got seven second-chance points; the damage done by the offensive rebounding could have been much worse.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">Justin Martin led the team in scoring, going for 17/4/0 on 6-9/4-6/1-3 shooting. Martin came to Xavier with a reputation as a big-time scorer and, after sitting out a year as a partial qualifier and playing to a less-than-impressive level last season, he looks the part early this year. He scored in a variety of ways, showing range from well behind the arc and the ability to put the ball on the deck and score. If he can continue to be that kind of weapon for the Muskies, he'll be a fixture in the lineup all year.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">Darwin Davis didn't play to the same level he has set for himself this season. He shot 6-10/2-6/1-2 and put up 15/2/3, but he turned the ball over five times and seemed to be having trouble finding his rhythm on offense. His back court running mate Semaj Christon went for 12/1/6 on 4-6/0-0/4-7 shooting but also had five turnovers. Christon looked capable of splitting the defensive shell on the perimeter almost at will and he caused havoc for the Colonials. He took a couple of rough falls throughout the game, clearly wasn't ready to test his elbow from range, and ended the game on the bench getting some sort of lower body injury worked on. The talented freshman was able to make an impact on the game while obviously not playing at 100%.</div>
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<b>Odds and ends:</b><br>-<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/52528/brad-redford">Brad Redford</a> was uncharacteristically poor from deep, going 0-5 despite having some fairly clean looks. His two FT with 37 seconds left iced the game for Xavier, though, so it wasn't a complete loss.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">-<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/175761/karvel-anderson">Karvel Anderson</a> found his stroke for Robert Morris today, putting up 17 points off the bench on 7-13/3-8/0-0 shooting.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">-Jeff Robinson had a fairly meek 7/4/0 on 2-3/0-0/3-4 shooting, but he came up with a couple of very big blocks and his steal led to Dee Davis' three at the end of the first half.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">-<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/53359/travis-taylor">Travis Taylor</a> rebounded like a man, grabbing seven boards on the game while fighting off Robert Morris' crashing guards.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">-On the whole, this game reminded me of the Hawai'i game last year. You just kept waiting for Xavier to put together a run, but it never happened. It was a dogfight the whole way, but this time the opponents' buzzer-beating heave came up a hair shy.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">That's it from me. Xavier is back in action on Thanksgiving Day against Pacific.</div>
https://www.bannersontheparkway.com/2012/11/17/3659176/xavier-v-robert-morris-boxscore-breakdownJoel D2012-11-17T10:45:56-05:002012-11-17T10:45:56-05:00Game Thread
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<img alt="Just hangin' out, doin' normal Travis Taylor stuff." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8LsS_kggTrZRTuYxryjJaRMJWXE=/0x990:3030x3010/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/3429101/20121113_mje_sv4_483.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Just hangin' out, doin' normal Travis Taylor stuff. | Frank Victores-US PRESSWIRE</figcaption>
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<p>Game time, preview, TV and radio listings, and more. The chat is open in the comments section now; we'll be here at tip time.</p> <p></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><strong><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/xavier-musketeers" class="sbn-auto-link">Xavier Musketeers</a> (2-0)<br></strong></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px auto; text-align: center;"> <p> <a href="http://statsheet.com/mcb" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; color: #999; font-size: 11px;"><br> NCAA Basketball Stats</a></p> <p> </p> <p> <script src="http://statsheet.com/charts/chartlets/2012/11/17/mcb_teams_xavier_140180.js" language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript"><br /> </script></p> <p> </p> </div>
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<div style="margin: 0px auto; text-align: center;"><strong>v.</strong></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px auto; text-align: center;"><strong><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/robert-morris-colonials" class="sbn-auto-link">Robert Morris Colonials</a> (1-2)</strong></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px auto; text-align: center;"> <p> <a href="http://statsheet.com/mcb" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; color: #999; font-size: 11px;"><br> NCAA Basketball</a></p> <p> </p> <p> <script src="http://statsheet.com/charts/chartlets/2012/11/17/mcb_teams_robert_morris_89586.js" language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript"><br /> </script></p> <p> </p> </div>
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<div style="margin: 0px auto; text-align: center;">2:00pm ET - Cintas Center - Cincinnati, OH</div>
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<div style="margin: 0px auto; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.bannersontheparkway.com/2012/11/16/3654332/xavier-v-robert-morris-preview">Preview</a> - <a href="http://www.iheart.com/live/1709/">Radio stream (55 KRC)</a> </div>
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<div style="margin: 0px auto; text-align: center;">TV: FOX Sports Ohio</div>
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https://www.bannersontheparkway.com/2012/11/17/3657950/xavier-v-robert-morris-game-threadJoel D2012-11-16T16:39:45-05:002012-11-16T16:39:45-05:00Preview
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<figcaption>Frank Victores-US PRESSWIRE</figcaption>
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<p>Xavier is off to a good start and the Colonials are off to a bad one, but that doesn't put this game in the bag just yet. Here is the breakdown of Robert Morris and what Xavier needs to do to win.</p> <p>What a difference a couple of weeks can make. Back when I was writing and then publishing the preview for Xavier's non-conference season, this game was looking like a toss-up. There were questions about how well Xavier's young back court could run the team and if <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/146538/dee-davis">Dee Davis</a> was going to be suitable as anything other than a defensive menace for spurts off the bench. The Colonials were coming off a 26-11 season and returning just about every player of interest from that squad. Ken Pomeroy was giving X a 53% chance of winning, likely on the strength of being the hosts.</p>
<p>Now the Muskies are a rolling, undefeated team, coming off the buzz of dismantling ostensible rival Butler on Tuesday. Justin Martin has been starting at the two, Dee Davis has been looking as composed as possible, and he and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/174689/semaj-christon">Semaj Christon</a> are both on pace to challenge for the school's single-season assists record. Meanwhile, Robert Morris has staggered to a 1-2 start with losses to Rider and Lehigh coming before a whipping of Fordham. Suddenly all the question marks seem to be on the side of Robert Morris.</p>
<p><b>Team fingerprint:<br></b>RMU's problems have begun with a woeful inability to put the biscuit in the basket. They are shooting a deplorable .325/.229/.780 as a team; their three-point shooting is 289th in the nation and their two-point shooting is 281st. Their mark from the line is obviously very respectable. Compounding the problem is their 22.9% TO rate. Only their OReb% has been sparing their blushes, as they run down 35.5% of their own misses.</p>
<p>Defensively, things are much the same. They can't force turnovers and teams are posting a 54.8% EFG% against them. The boards are once against their saving grace, as they are in the top 50 nationally in defensive rebounding percentage. They also block 13.5% of opponents' two-point attempts, good for 62nd in the country.</p>
<p><b>Starters:</b><br>Senior point guard <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/53369/velton-jones">Velton Jones</a> leads the way in scoring and assists for RMU, putting up 12.7/2.0/5.0 per game but getting there on a .286/.250/.792 shooting line. Jones has been more a volume scorer than a sharpshooter throughout his career, and that trend certainly has continued this season. Jones is averaging two steals per game this season.</p>
<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/100768/coron-williams">Coron Williams</a> plays the two for Robert Morris and is good for 7.3/2.7/0.3 per game on this young season. His shooting line of .350/.375/.500 somewhat masks the fact that he's probably the best shooter on this Robert Morris team. He has hit over 40% of his threes each of the last two years and spends most of his time looking for opportunities to lift from deep. Neither Williams nor Jones, however, will be afforded the same respect from beyond the arc that the Butler guards were on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Six-foot-five sophomore swingman <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/145995/lucky-jones">Lucky Jones</a> was something of a breakout player as a freshman last season, leading the team in rebounding as a freshman. Jones is averaging 10.0/5.7/0.7 on .310/.250/.813 shooting. He averaged nearly three offensive rebounds per game last season but only has two in three games this year. That's not the kind of development you want to see in a young player.</p>
<p>Forward <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/175765/vaughn-morgan">Vaughn Morgan</a> is something less than an offensive force for Robert Morris. The 6'6" junior has shot ten times in the Colonials three games and averages 4.7/3.7/0.0 on .600/.000/.500 shooting. That's not to say he doesn't have an impact on the game, though. Despite playing only 20 minutes per game, he has grabbed eight offensive boards on the year and is averaging three blocks per game. Of course, he has also contrived to turn the ball over eight times without picking up an assist.</p>
<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/100487/mike-mcfadden">Mike McFadden</a> rounds out the starting five for RMU. The 6'8" junior is leading the team in rebounding, going for 8.0/6.7/0.0 and averaging two steals per game. Of players who have shot more than ten times, his 41.2% mark from the floor leads the team, as does his 83.3% from the line. The fact that a 6'8" power forward with zero three-point attempts in his college career is only making 41% of FGA is no doubt a cause for concern among the Colonial faithful.</p>
<p><b>Bench:</b><br>The team's second-leading scorer is guard <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/175761/karvel-anderson">Karvel Anderson</a>, a JuCo transfer in his first season at the D-1 level. He is going for a respectable 10.7/4.0/1.3 line, but the fact that he's getting there shooting .333/.176/.778 is not helping the Robert Morris cause. The last thing this team needs right now is another volume shooter. Backup guard <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/124201/anthony-myers-pate">Anthony Myers-Pate</a> is getting 4 PPG (and 4 RPG despite being 5'11") but is an abysmal 4-23 shooting, including 1-13 from behind the arc. Someone needs to tell these guys to find better shots, beginning next week.</p>
<p>The only other interesting reserve is 6'9" freshman forward <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/175763/stephan-hawkins">Stephan Hawkins</a>. Despite only playing 15 minutes per game, he's averaging 4.0 and 6.3. Ten of his nineteen rebounds this season have come on the offensive end.</p>
<p><b>Three questions:<br>-How deep is Xavier?</b> In the track meet win over Fairleigh Dickinson, Xavier got seven players into double figures in scoring and did so fairly effortlessly. Things tightened up a bit against Butler, where the Musketeers played only seven players for more than a minute. There are going to be games this year where Xavier needs to go more than seven deep, and that is going to depend largely on the viability of <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/174693/james-farr">James Farr</a> and the flexibility of Justin Martin. Both of those players have another chance to shine here before Xavier hits the road.</p>
<p><b>-Is Jeff Robinson for real?</b> This is a question that has been on the minds of Xavier fans off and on for the better part of three years. Robinson looked dynamic against Fairleigh Dickinson and Butler. Robert Morris has rebounded well over their first three games; if Robinson can make hay on the glass and more than hold his own in the paint on Saturday, it might go a long way towards making his doubters believe. Or maybe not.</p>
<p><b>-How soon can Semaj Christon get up to speed?</b> Christon played 27 minutes but only shot twice against Butler. He made an impact on the game with his eight assists, but they came along with five turnovers. Christon is going to be a big part of Xavier's plans this season; the sooner he adjusts to the tempo of the college game - to say nothing of becoming fully healthy - the better for the Musketeers.</p>
<p><b>Three keys:<br>-Control the boards.</b> Robert Morris misses a ton of shots, there's no way around that. In their victory over Fordham on the 13th, they outrebounded the Rams by nine, including by four on the offensive end. Even in their losses, Robert Morris has held a solid advantage on the glass. Limiting the Colonials on the glass will do a lot to help Xavier keep them in check.</p>
<p><b>-Force the tempo. </b>Robert Morris is undefeated in games consisting of fewer than 70 possessions, albeit only three games into the season. Getting the ball out and going is not part of the RMU game plan, especially against a team like Xavier. The Colonials want to shrink the game by making possessions take longer; Xavier would be well served to push the pace.</p>
<p><b>-Lift.</b> Right now, Xavier has the best effective field goal percentage in the country. Robert Morris has been fairly miserable at defending shots of any sort this season, and Xavier is a good shooting team. Martin and Redford have flashed smooth strokes, and Dee Davis has shot the ball well from deep. Jeff Robinson has a decent mid-range game, and he along with Taylor and Stenger have been the benficiary of some nifty ball movement by the Muskies. X can shoot the ball and Robert Morris can't play defense; there's no reason for the Musketeers to get shy tomorrow.</p>
<p><b>Bottom line:</b> Xavier is off to a good start and the Colonials are off to a bad one, but that doesn't put this game in the bag just yet. Robert Morris is a veteran team with a solid coach, and they'll turn things around sooner or later. In their last game before heading out west, X needs to get out of the blocks well and put this game to bed. If they execute well, the Muskies will leave the weekend with a 3-0 record.</p>
https://www.bannersontheparkway.com/2012/11/16/3654332/xavier-v-robert-morris-previewJoel D