Xavier shuts down poor-shooting Miami

Xavier shuts down poor-shooting Miami
AP Photos OHTU101-102
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By JOE KAY
AP Sports Writer
OXFORD, Ohio (AP) -- The small contingent of Xavier fans didn't need to watch any game film to diagnose the problem.
As the Musketeers pulled away to a 55-36 victory Tuesday night over Miami of Ohio, their fans filled Millett Hall with a chant that got right to the point.
"You need Wally!" they suggested to downcast RedHawks fans.
At this point, Miami (2-3) isn't waiting for another Wally Szczerbiak to come along and light it up. The RedHawks will take anyone who can put the ball in the basket once in a while.
Right now, they have nobody.
They were at their worst against Xavier (4-2), which blew open a slow-paced game with a 14-point run in the second half. As soon as it ended, the sports information staffs started looking up reference points for futility.
Miami coach Charlie Coles told them not to bother.
"We broke all those records," Coles said. "You don't even have to check."
For the second game in a row, Miami failed to score 40 points. It was the RedHawks' fewest points since a 60-23 loss at Dayton on Dec. 29, 2001, and the fewest points allowed by Xavier since a 30-28 loss to Oklahoma City on Jan. 23, 1982 -- before the 35-second shot clock was introduced.
Coles went to a Princeton-style offense -- a lot of screens, passes and long possessions -- to try to create better shots this season. Instead, things have gotten worse.
The RedHawks shot only 35.9 percent from the field and had a season-high 20 turnovers in their worst home defeat since an 87-58 loss to Xavier on Nov. 28, 2001.
"Maybe we've got to find another way to play," Coles said. "We haven't scored for the last three years. I've got to find a way. I'm frustrated. My kids are, too, and I don't know how to help them. I don't know if they know how to help themselves."
Xavier coach Thad Matta is trying to figure out how to get the most out of an offense that's still overly dependent upon its three guards. When they shoot well, the Musketeers look good. When they don't, they get games like they had Tuesday night.
Xavier missed its first eight 3-point attempts and got lulled by Miami's deliberate pace. The Musketeers led only 19-17 at halftime and looked awfully uncomfortable.
Romain Sato's 3-pointer from the right corner broke the dry spell and started a 14-point run in the second half that briefly changed the tempo that Miami set for most of the night.
"It was tough because they held the ball for 35 seconds," said Sato, who led Xavier with 14 points. "That's why the game is so slow."
The Musketeers have been slow to come together in their first season without power forward David West, who was the focus of opposing defenses for the last four years. Now, teams do what worked for Miami -- pin the guards on the perimeter and force them to take hurried shots.
Forward Anthony Myles scored only two points and had one rebound in 16 minutes, and center Will Caudle failed to score and had only two rebounds in 19 minutes. The three starting guards had a total of 36 points and 12 rebounds -- a troubling imbalance.
"We've got an idea of how we want to play," guard Dedrick Finn said. "But it's a matter of bringing it all together. We want to be uptempo, to go inside and out."
In their first game since an overtime loss to Indiana nine days earlier, the Musketeers showed they've still got a long way to go.
"This team is still a process," coach Thad Matta said. "We don't have everybody playing the way we need them to play right now. We were a little better than we were two weeks ago."