Dayton-Xavier Preview

Published Mar. 10, 2011 7:10 p.m. ET

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Earning the top seed in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament and ending up in the NCAAs has been a given for No. 18 Xavier lately.

Where the Musketeers struggle, though, is winning the conference title. They haven't cut down the conference nets since 2006 despite either winning or sharing the league's regular-season title the past five seasons.

The lack of success has not been for a lack of effort. The Musketeers were eliminated in the semifinals last season in overtime by Richmond in a game which they could have won had they made a couple of late free throws.

They also were eliminated in the semifinals in 2009 by Temple when Dionte Christmas sent them packing with a barrage of NBA-range 3-pointers.

"We want to win, because we want to be known as the best team in the conference," coach Chris Mack said Thursday after putting his team through a light workout at Boardwalk Hall in this casino resort town.

Xavier (24-6) will kick off two Friday doubleheaders at the 10,000-seat arena when it meets Ohio-rival Dayton (20-12) in the opening game at noon. The ninth-seeded Flyers, who were beaten twice by Xavier this season by a total of nine points, knocked off Massachusetts in the first round on Tuesday.

Xavier has one injury issue this week. Center Kenny Frease, who averaged 11.9 points and 7.2 rebounds, tweaked his back in practice on Wednesday and watched Thursday's workout in sweats. Mack expects the 7-foot Frease, a matchup problem for many league teams, to be ready for Friday.

Either way, the team seemed relaxed on Thursday. And why not? The Musketeers went 15-1 in the league this season, and are the overwhelming favorite to win this weekend. What's more, they had a fun-filled meeting at Dock's Oyster House on Wednesday night, an evening that included some singing by the players. In fact, senior forward Dante Jackson seemed happy with his rendition of some Stevie Wonder songs.

But he also said that Mack has talked to this team about winning the conference tournament since the season started. And while the players know they are going to get an NCAA tournament berth no matter what happens this weekend, they want more.

"Make no mistake," Jackson said. "We are here to win this tournament."

The Musketeers come into the tourney on a nine-game winning streak. They have only lost two games since the start of the year, one to Cincinnati in a contest for the city's bragging rights, and another at Charlotte on Feb. 2, their only conference loss.

Xavier is led by junior guard Tu Holloway, who averaged 20.1 points and 5.5 assists in being named the conference's player of the year. Fellow guard Mark Lyons is averaging 13.8 points, while power forward Jamel McLean averaged 10.8 points and 8.5 rebounds.

Dayton, which won the NIT last season, is led by senior forward Chris Wright, who averaged 12.9 points and 8.3 rebounds.

For all its recent failures in the Atlantic 10 tournament, Xavier has been magnificent in the NCAA tournament. It has reached the round of 16 the past three seasons. The only other Division I school to also do that is Michigan State.