CINCINNATI -- James Farr didn't see the court a whole lot for Xavier last season as a freshman but he saw plenty of Dee Davis in practice and in games. He knows what the Musketeers look like without their junior point guard and what they can look like with Davis playing.
They can look an awful lot like Wednesday night's 26-point manhandling of Miami.
Davis scored 15 points and had five assists as Xavier improved to 4-0 on the season with a 77-51 win against the RedHawks in front of 9,514 at the Cintas Center. Farr, a 6-foot-9 sophomore forward, had his first career double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds off the bench, while 6-9 freshman Jalen Reynolds added 11 rebounds for the Musketeers.
Semaj Christon (13 points) and Matt Stainbrook (10 points) also scored in double figures for Xavier but it is clear the Musketeers are a different team with Davis on the floor and directing things. He missed the first two games of the season against Gardner-Webb and Tennessee because of a concussion suffered in a preseason practice.
"You always want to be on the court with your teammates and to see them win without me, it made me feel like I needed to be a part of it," said Davis. "I'm just happy to be back."
Freshman Brandon Randolph played in Davis' absence, going all but five minutes and playing well in the victories. Davis returned against Morehead State last Friday, scoring seven points and delivering nine assists in 35 minutes on the court. He played 27 minutes against Miami as coach Chris Mack was able to get his four-guard rotation of Christon and Davis starting and Randolph and Myles Davis coming off the bench into full gear.
"As the game wore on, we became more of who I've seen every day in practice," said Mack.
Davis' presence was a big reason.
"It allows them to play faster, it allows them to pressure the ball on defense and to play harder for shorter periods of stretches," said Mack. "We're a different team than we were a year ago so our players have to adjust to that knowing that they can play with more energy and effort every time out on the floor. I think that's a really good sign when you have guys like Semaj, Dee, Brandon and Myles because they can penetrate and put pressure on other teams' guards for the entire 40 minutes."
Wednesday was the 100th game in the series between Xavier and Miami; Xavier now holds a 53-47 advantage after winning for the fourth time in the last five meetings. The home team has won the last seven games in the series. The 26-point margin of victory was the largest for Xavier in the series since an 87-58 win at Millett Hall in 2001.
Miami falls to 0-3 on the season. All three losses have been on the road -- at No. 21 Notre Dame, Arizona State and now Xavier. The difficult start to the season was made more difficult by the fact that the RedHawks couldn't make shots from the outside for the second straight game. They were just 5-of-23 on three-pointers against Xavier after making just four of 20 attempts at Arizona State in a 90-54 loss eight days ago.
Will Sullivan's three-pointer with 10:12 left in the first half gave Miami an 18-17 lead, its first lead since Geovonie McKnight scored the first points of the game on a steal and layup 62 seconds into the game. That lead lasted all of 26 seconds. Davis hit a three from the wing to regain the lead for Xavier and the Musketeers took off from there.
Xavier outscored Miami 16-6 the rest of the first half, taking a 36-24 lead to the locker room. The Musketeers didn't let up once the second half began. They extended their lead to 50-26 in the first 7:30 of the second half, limiting the RedHawks to just 1-of-9 shooting in the process. It continued to grow, ballooning to as many as 31 points.
McKnight led Miami with 10 points. Reggie Johnson averaged 23 points for the RedHawks in their first two games but managed just five points on Wednesday.
"Probably the first 15-16 minutes, from an effort standpoint, we were there but then they went on a run," said Miami coach John Cooper. "Credit their defense for that but when you can't score you put yourself in a tough predicament. I don't think we're at a mental capacity, a mental toughness as a group that we can withstand such a long stretch of not scoring."
Davis started 24 of 28 games for Xavier last season. He was third on the team in scoring, averaging 8.2 points per game. That stat stands out as an example of how much the Musketeers depended on Christon for their points last season. That's not the case this season.
Christon still scored in double figures for the 23rd game in a row but he also had eight assists and three steals. Davis went 6-of-7 from the floor, including 3-of-4 on three-pointers.
Xavier outrebounded Miami 42-25, outscored the RedHawks 32-20 in the paint and had a 20-2 advantage in second chance points.
Not all of that is directly because of Davis but when he's healthy and playing for the Musketeers they are capable of playing to their potential.
"We didn't have as deep of a team (last season) as we do this year," said Farr. "Dee's not going to have as many shots as he had last year compared to this year but Dee's constantly in the gym. He's the first one at practice every day getting shots. So, I don't think Dee ever left. He's just sacrificing his role to put us in place and that's what makes him a great point guard."
