PHOENIX (AP) -Miserable marksmanship finished off the Musketeers.
Xavier shot itself out of the NCAA tournament, be it because of UCLA’s tough defense or just a poor touch.
The Musketeers’ bid for their first trip to the Final Four was doomed when the shots just wouldn’t fall in a 76-57 loss to the top-seeded Bruins in the West Regional final Saturday.
Third-seeded Xavier (30-7) set a school record for victories and advanced to a regional final for the second time.
But the number that ended the season for the Musketeers was 36 percent. That’s what they shot from the field – well below their 48 percent season average. They made 4-of-19 3s.
“Forget our best,” coach Sean Miller said, “I don’t think we played that well. It was not for lack of effort or anything like that as much as a lot of game pressure, a lot at stake against a great team that had been there before. The best team won.”
Some of the Musketeers’ 58 attempts were contested, others were wide open. It didn’t matter. They found their mark only 21 times, and it was apparent Xavier was headed home to Cincinnati long before the final whistle.
Josh Duncan, Drew Lavender and Stanley Burrell – Xavier’s three senior starters – were a combined 8-for-26, including 3-for-11 on 3s.
“UCLA obviously did a good job on defense,” Duncan said. “They pressured us pretty well and, you know, we weren’t knocking down shots today and had a couple of uncharacteristic turnovers. But, I guess, that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”
They made an emotional exit from the game with 1 1/2 minutes to play, getting hugs from their coaches on their way the bench.
“I can’t say enough good things about all three seniors,” Miller said. “They led us as deep in my opinion as we possibly could have gone – 30 wins, a school record. I think we established ourself as, if not the best team ever to play at Xavier, certainly we were there.”
Burrell, the Atlantic 10 defensive player of the year, was weeping as he left his last college game.
“It hurts losing because I gave my best every time I stepped out there,” he said. “They gave me an opportunity when nobody else would. I just tried to do my best every time. I love Xavier with everything I have. Knowing it was the last time I’d be out there, it hurt.”
After a career-high 26 points in Xavier’s 79-75 overtime win over West Virginia on Thursday night, Duncan made 4-of-11 shots against the Bruins and was 1-for-6 on 3s. Two of the baskets came late in the game with the outcome long since determined.
B.J. Raymond, the star against West Virginia, took just four shots – and made one.
“I hear people talk about game pressure, the higher up the ladder you get into the NCAA tournament,” Miller said. “Today was high stakes for everybody, and we weren’t ourselves.”
About the only offense the Musketeers could muster was the lob pass to Derrick Brown for dunks. Brown made 6-of-8 shots. The rest of the team went 15-for-50.
Xavier shot 33 percent (11-for-33) and trailed 33-24 at halftime. Brown was 5-for-7, the rest of the team 6-for-26.
Even when UCLA did something wrong, the Musketeers were seldom able to take advantage.
The Bruins committed 10 first-half turnovers, but Xavier turned them in to only two points.
UCLA started the second half with an 18-6 run to go up 51-30. The Musketeers cut it to 53-41 for an instant, but that was as close as it got.
Miller had been mentioned as a possibility for the vacant Indiana job, but he said he wasn’t going anywhere.
“I will be at Xavier,” he said. “I’m looking forward to coaching at Xavier and continuing on with what we’ve done for years behind me and what we’ve done this year. You know, we have the bar set high and we’re anxious to recruit the very best we can – to have the opportunity to get back here.”
The Musketeers will leave with sour memories of the desert. This matched their second most one-sided loss of the season. The worst came just down the road in Tempe, where they were beaten by Arizona State 77-55 on Dec. 15.
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