By Doug Tifft
FOX Sports Ohio
Feb. 16, 2011
Behind a defense that limited Saint Joseph's to 30.9 percent shooting and an offense that put three players in double-figures and had 17 assists on 27 field goals, Xavier cruised to a 74-54 win in front of 3,911 at Hagan Arena on Wednesday night.
The Musketeer defense, which entered the game holding opponents to the second lowest field goal percentage in the conference, limited the Hawks to 24.1 percent shooting in the second half while outscoring SJU 40-27 after the break.
"We did a good job defensively," Xavier head coach Chris Mack said. "They are more of a drive-and-kick team. They are not going to overwhelm you with a post presence. We wanted to make sure that from all five positions we guarded the ball well and had guys in the gaps to support the dribble-drive."
Offensively, Xavier leading scorer Tu Holloway was just 2-10 from the field for 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds, but Mark Lyons picked up the scoring load with 24 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Mack said he was pleased with Lyons, who fouled out of a win at Duquesne on Sunday with more than 11 minutes remaining having scored just six points, and called the sophomore guard's night a "bounce-back game."
Lyons and Holloway were a big part of a first-half rally to erase a five-point Hawk lead late in the first half.
With St. Joe's walking the ball up the floor and not beginning its offense until the shot clock got under 10 seconds, the Musketeers were having to defend one critical ball-screen and then attempt to push for post position offensively.
Yet, at the under-four media timeout Mack made an adjustment to apply hard ball-pressure on St. Joe's guards Langston Galloway and Carl Jones, resulting in a 19-2 Xavier run that stretched into the second half.
"We had the New York guards in the huddle [wanting to] pressure the ball," Mack said. "I looked up and we had two team fouls and it made sense at the time. Had we had six team fouls or those guys being in the bonus we certainly would not have done that. But if they are not trying to score it is a little bit of free pressure as long as you don't get caught with your pants down and the guys drives the ball. As long as our guys were supportive off the ball, we felt like we could pressure the ball the last three minutes of the half."
The run gave Xavier a 13-point lead, and the Hawks would not get closer than eight the rest of the way.
The faster pace helped the Musketeers spread the ball around, mostly to the interior, where Kenny Frease had 17 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
The 7-footer had three inches on every St. Joe's defender, but did most of his work early by beating SJU big men C.J. Aiken, Ronald Roberts and Idris Hilliard up the floor.
"I thought Kenny did a great job establishing himself, especially in transition
