Published since 1915 by the students
of Xavier University
Published since 1915 by the students
of Xavier University
John LaFollette
Sports Editor
Burdened by a season-low first half shooting performance and unable to contain two outstanding scorers, the men’s basketball team lost its first true road game of the year, falling to the Creighton Bluejays 73-67 before a record crowd last Saturday night in Omaha, Neb.
Xavier shot a chilly 28.6 percent from the field in the first half, including 1-of-9 from 3-point range, and just over 40 percent for the game in the loss. Junior guard Drew Lavender led the Musketeers with 13 points, and junior guard Stanley Burrell emerged from a scoring slump to follow Lavender with 12 more.
By contrast, Creighton’s two leading scorers combined for nearly 30 shots between them and totaled 32 Bluejay points. Center Anthony Tolliver shot 6-of-14 for 17 points, and guard Nate Funk added another 15 off 5-of-15 shooting.
The Musketeers trailed early in the game before falling behind by 15 points after a 9-2 Creighton run to start the second half. Xavier pulled within four with just over nine minutes remaining, but the two teams played evenly for the rest of the game and the Musketeers were unable to cut into the lead.
15,872 people, the largest crowd to watch a basketball game in Nebraska history, watched junior forward Josh Duncan turn the ball over a season-high five times as the Musketeers gave up 18 points off 17 turnovers.
The upset loss pushed the then-24th-ranked Musketeers out of the AP top-25 and even further out of the USA Today Coaches’ poll. Xavier received votes in both polls this week, but isn’t close to breaching the top-25.
The Musketeers continue this road trip with the annual Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout against the Cincinnati Bearcats at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at the Fifth Third Arena at Shoemaker Center. The game is the 74th meeting of the two schools; Xavier has won three of the last four total, and two of the last three at the Shoe.
“The game is going to be hard fought, and will probably come down to a player or players making a few key plays,” Xavier head coach Sean Miller said of the upcoming rivalry game. “We’re coming off a tough loss at Creighton, and hopefully that prepares us to play better.”
Students without tickets to the Crosstown Shootout are invited to a viewing party beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Schmidt Fieldhouse, with free Skyline Chili, LaRosa’s Pizza and Busken Bakery. One-dollar draft beer will also be available for students aged 21 and over.
The athletic department will also be hosting a viewing party beginning at 6 p.m. in the James and Caroline Duff Banquet Center of Cintas Center.
Attendance is free and food and beverage, including beer, will be available for purchase.
Food choices will include Skyline Chili, LaRosa’s Pizza, chicken wings, pulled pork sandwiches and Coca-Cola products.
John LaFollette
Sports Editor
It should be well-known that the Spectator has a strong affinity for the greatest commonwealth on the face of the earth: Kentucky. In fact, he has yet to meet the person who, once well-acquainted, has been able to resist the allure of the Bluegrass State’s finest products: the Kentucky Derby, bourbon and Muhammad Ali.
As such, any sympathetic reader can understand the dismay the Spectator felt upon learning that the premiere of a television special featuring the poetic genius of Muhammad Ali conflicted with a busy schedule of social obligations.
Fortunately, the Spectator’s unpaid intern, Jason, has a desire to keep his non-paying job that is as strong as his social schedule is flexible; arrangements were made for Jason to tape it. (For the record, the special in question is ESPN’s “Ali Rap,” and it usually precedes a similar special called “Ali’s Dozen,” which chronicles 12 of Ali’s greatest fights.)
Armed with the taped special and a glass of Kentucky’s finest (Wild Turkey), the Spectator settled in for an entertaining hour of the best brash, cocky, greatness-proclaiming words ever to be uttered by a Sunni Muslim prizefighter from Louisville.
As gifted as Ali was in the boxing ring (56-5, 37 wins by knockout, three heavyweight titles), his ability to say the outrageous with unwavering and convincing sincerity gave him a larger-than-life persona and made him one of the most recognizable figures of his time.
Never before had such a young, black man exuded so much supreme confidence in himself so vocally. Cassius Clay, the Louisville Lip before he became Ali, promised victories in the ring and guaranteed with provocative accuracy the round in which he would deliver.
He called Sonny Liston “that big ugly bear” (“Have you seen Liston? … Ain’t he ugly?”) when everyone else was calling him “the baddest man in America.” He called challenger Ernie Terrell an “Uncle Tom” after Terrell refused to address Clay by his new name of Muhammad Ali, before deliberately punishing Terrell for 15 rounds without knocking him out.
He made predictions about his fights, usually in memorable rhyme, that seemed bold to everyone but him. When his predictions came true, people stopped wondering whether the cocky black kid really was “The Greatest,” and started taking him seriously.
The Spectator is keen to note that it is here that comparisons of brash modern athletes like Terrell Owens and Chad Johnson to Ali fall apart. Not only did Ali regularly make good on his promises, he used his gift of gab to divert the spotlight he had attracted, from himself to bigger world issues that mattered to him.
In 1964 Ali revealed that he was a member of the Nation of Islam, and in 1966 he declared his opposition to the war in Vietnam, famously saying, “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Vietcong,” and “No Vietcong ever called me ‘nigger.’” He knew the risks associated with making his beliefs public (he was jailed and stripped of his heavyweight title), but felt a stronger need to be true to himself.
Always an outspoken critic of the treatment of blacks in America, Ali threw his 1960 Olympic gold medal into the Ohio River after he was refused service in a diner on account of his race. “That gold medal didn’t mean a thing to me if my black brothers and sisters were treated wrong in a country I was supposed to represent,” he said.
The Spectator has a hard time imagining a modern athlete making so bold a statement about his personal views. Are they aloof? Are they so consumed with self-preservation that real issues don’t matter? Is the world at a loss for causes with which people with pull can align themselves? Do star athletes not have the sway nowadays that Ali did 40 years ago?
The Spectator is confident the answer to those last two questions is “no,” but he wonders about the other two. Where have you gone, Muhammad Ali?
John LaFollette 
Sports Editor
The Muskie women were able to hold on against the Eagles of Coppin State thanks to an impressive 12 blocked shots in the contest. The blockade was led by sensational freshman forward Amber Harris, who had seven. Harris added 11 points and 13 rebounds in the 49-45 victory.
Also scoring in double digits for XU was senior guard Michele Miller, who had 11 to go along with five boards. The Musketeers came up with a big stop with just under two minutes to play and were able to take a three point lead on a pretty move and lay-up by senior Joei Clyburn with just 48 seconds to go.
On the ensuing Eagles possession, Xavier senior guard Suntana Granderson stole the ball and dished to fellow senior Miranda Green who was fouled. She converted the free-throws and effectively ended any chance of a comeback for the Eagles.
The defensive aspect of the game was terrific for the Musketeers holding CSU to a lowly 27 percent shooting percentage from the floor and defensive standout Granderson was able to hold the Eagles star Rashid Suber to 5-23 from the field for 13 points. The offense did have some problems as they committed 21 turnovers.
In addition to the turnovers, the Muskie rebounders allowed Coppin State to record 23 offensive boards and win the overall rebounding margin 50-38.
Unfortunately, the excess offensive rebounds for the Eagles only resulted in a meager six second chance points.
The Musketeers are currently standing at 7-3 and are back in action at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 15 at Cintas Center against Eastern Illinois.
Freshman Amber Harris was named A-10 Rookie of the Week for the fourth consecutive week, in the wake of averaging 11 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks per game last week.
In the overtime loss to Penn State, Harris had 10 points, nine boards and three blocks. Harris added 11 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks in a four point victory against Coppin State.
With 38 blocks so far this season, Harris is only one block shy of the single season record for the Musketeers with 20 games to play.
