Xavier Exorcises Demons With Second Half Comeback

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Xavier coach Chris Mack, arrived late for the postgame press conference by greeting the 1989-90 and 1964-65 teams and former coach Pete Gillen.

"Let me set the record straight. I wanted to imitate my team and not show up on time," Mack quipped.

The Xavier Musketeers have developed a disturbing habit of starting slowly before mounting a rally in the second half.

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Xaviers 89-76 win over the Blue Demons of DePaul University followed that script.

The Blue Demons were on fire from 3-point range in the first half, building a 50-42 lead, making 11 of 19 from long range.

To make matters worse the half ended with Xavier's Jalen Reynolds committing a technical foul giving DePaul a 10-point lead before the second half clock started.

"We woke up. They were playing better than us and harder than us," today's hero Myles Davis said.  "We have to get better and come out stronger with more energy."

The Musketeers trailed Providence by 12 on the road before forcing overtime in a 69-66 loss.  They have trailed at the half in each of its last five games.

Myles Davis scored a career-high 25 while Xavier (17-7, 4-4 Big East) while reversing the 3-point trend for DePaul with a 2-for-9 mark. Davis added a career-high eight rebounds to boot.

"They were too comfortable," Myles Davis said.  "We had to take them out of their comfort zone."

Myles Davis only make one 3-point shot but scored off the dribble more than he has in the past.

"If you told me he would have 25 points and went 1-for-6 from 3-point range, I wouldn't have believed you," Mack said.  "It was by far his best game in a Xavier uniform."

Freshman Trevon Bluiett added 21 points and Matt Stainbrook scored 17 for Xavier.  "He is a matchup problem," DePaul coach Oliver Purnell said.  "He can shoot the three and drive to the basket.  He has good size.  That's why he's having such a good year and is probably the Rookie of the Year.

"Trevon played with a lot more confidence than he has in the last four or five games," Mack said.

DePaul (11-10, 5-3 Big East) had four players in double figures; Tommy Hamilton 15, Aaron Simpson 14, a career high, Myke Henry 13 and Darrick Wood 11.  Xavier did manage to hold DePaul's leading scorer to his lowest point total of the season, six.

The Blue Demons scored just 24 points after the second half clock started.  Their 50 first-half points were the most they'd scored in an opening half all season

"They are tough to guard," Mack said.  "They can stretch the floor at all five positions.  We played man-to-man 95 percent of the time in the second half.  We put fewer bigs on the floor that let us guard them outside. We made them miss in the second half.  In the first half we just hoped they missed.  That's not reallly playing defense."

Xavier took care of the basketball with a season-low five for the game.

"I thought our transition defense let us down," Purnell said.  "We didn't go to the basket as much as we should have."

Bubba Watson Knows Baseball

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Bubba Watson 

Bubba Watson, a two-time Masters championship on the Professional Golf Association tour, bought the Reds Double A Pensacola franchise.

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Watson was born in Pensacola and has been a fan of the Blue Wahoos of the Southern League

"Ever since I went to my first Blue Wahoos game I have been a big fan of the team. I love the atmosphere, it’s such a great place to go with friends and family. I wish Pensacola had a team like this when I was growing up. There's something special about pulling for the hometown team. It's great that Quint and Rishy were willing to let me be a part of it. I look forward to a long and exciting partnership with them. I just hope Quint doesn’t get tired of my crazy ideas because I have been known to have a few. One thing I know for sure is that you won't see me out there in a uniform playing. I already asked, and they said I can't do that even if I own part of the team,” said Watson.

Watson was born in Pensacola and raised in nearby Bagdad, Florida.  He attended Faulkner State Community College and the University of Georgia, where he helped the Bulldogs win the 2000 NCAA championship.

Xavier Beats Marquette At Home

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Xavier trailed by nine points at halftime but came all the way back to pull out a 62-58 win over the Marquette Golden Eagles.

Xavier turned ball over 12 times in the first half but the Musketeers turned the tables in the second half.

"As simple as I can put it the difference in the game was the difference in turnovers between the first half and second half," head coach Chris Mack said. "The changed defenses and had a lot of tipped passes.  In the second half we recognized the defenses better and we hit some shots because we had more composure.  We were lucky that we were only down by nine at halftime."

Remy Abell made a 3-point shot at 7:20 in the second half to give Xavier (12-6 3-3 Big East) its first lead of the game at 47-45.  Abell made a career-high five for the game.

Marquette (10-7 2-3 Big East) held Xavier to 22 points in the first half, the lowest total for a half this season.

Matt Carlino had six 3-pointers and tallied a game-high 27 points.

"I thought we did a decent job on him but he hit some, tough, tough shots," Mack said.

There were two ties and a lead change down the stretch but Xavier took control at the end when freshman Trevon Bluiett grabbed a missed 3-point attempt by Carlino with six seconds left..

Carlino would have tied the game but Bluiett made three of four free throws in the last 16 seconds and rebounded his lone miss to seal the win.

Deep Hall Of Fame Class Gets Elected

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Craig Biggio, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson and John Smoltz were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 2015.

It is the first time since 1955 that four players were elected at one time. It was the first time ever that three pitchers were elected in the same class.

Biggio is one of 28 players in baseball history with 3,000 or more hits (3,060). He hit 668 doubles in his career and led the league in doubles three times.  Biggio was drafted out of Seton Hall University in New Jersey.  He was the first pick of the Houston Astros in the 1987 draft.

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Martinez was the top pitcher of his era. He is the first Hall of Famer born in the 1970's.

Randy Johnson was 6'10" tall but Martinez is generously listed at 5'11" and was told he was too small.

"I had a chip on my shoulder," Martinez told the panel of the Baseball Network.  "The umpires knew I had a chip on my shoulder and would tell me to keep it clean.  But when I was on the mound, I was taller than everyone else."

"I was a fan of Mario Soto growing up," Martinez said.

Martinez had a record of 219-100 with a 2.93 career ERA.  He completed 46 of his 409 starts.


I once asked Ken Griffey Jr. (who will be on his first ballot next year) who was the best pitcher he faced.

"One word.  Pedro," was his answer.

Smoltz completes the Atlanta Braves super rotation in the Hall.  Teammates Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux were elected last year along with his manager Bobby Cox.

Smoltz was drafted in the 22nd round in 1985 by the Detroit Tigers.  Smoltz is a Michigan native. The Tigers traded Smoltz to the Atlanta Braves for Doyle Alexander in 1987.  He broke in with the Braves in 1988.

Bobby Cox made the trade while he was the Braves general manager, then returned to the bench as manager.

Smoltz won 213 games and saved another 154.  He started 481 games and relieved in another 242 games.

Randy Johnson won 303 games and struck out an astounding 4,875 batters in 4,135 and 1/3 innings.