ATLANTA -- Xavier guard Dedrick Finn couldn't believe what he was hearing, but, then again, yes he could. It comes with being a little-known Midwest school with a name that people mispronounce (It's Zavior, in case you're wondering).
Right there on the Georgia Dome court, smack dab in the middle of the first half, a University of Texas player, who he would not identify, sidled up to him and gave him a few words to think about -- and they weren't nice.
"You guys are Xavier," the Texas player said. "It says Xavier on your shirts. This won't last."
"We were winning at the time," said Finn. "Can you believe that?"
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| Anthony Myles celebrates Xavier's victory and a trip to the Elite Eight.(AP) |
Xavier (26-10) has now won 16 of 17 games, and a team that was 10-9 at one point this season and in last place in the Atlantic 10 is now one game from the first Final Four in school history.
The oldest Catholic institution of higher learning in the Midwest (not Notre Dame) must have the lucky set of rosary beads somewhere. This run is truly special.
By advancing to the Elite Eight, they have already exceeded what any other Xavier team has done, but, more than that, they've surpassed what most expected, except the ones that mattered.
Each other.
This is a scrappy group that plays hard, shoots well and somehow has caught fire in this tournament, knocking off Louisville, second-seeded Mississippi State and then Texas Friday night.
X (avier) marks the spot.
"The funny thing is he (the Texas) player actually pronounced the name right," said Finn. "That was a surprise."
Xavier didn't lock up the game until the final seconds when Texas coach Rick Barnes was called for two technical fouls and was ejected from the game for arguing a call with 3.7 seconds left.
At the time, Xavier led 74-71 and Finn had just grabbed a rebound of a 3-point miss by Sydmill Harris of Texas. He was then fouled by P.J. Tucker, which led to a few words by Barnes for official Ted Valentine, who has been known to bask in the attention of making a controversial call or two.
Barnes continued to argue and was thrown out after a second tech, and the Musketeers made five of six free throws to close out the scoring and set off a celebration on their bench. The game was still undecided when Barnes was hit with the technical fouls, but Finn had two free throws coming even without Barnes getting tossed. When Finn made his two and Romain Sato made three of his four, it set off a celebration on the Xavier sideline.
"I was not displeased with any particular call," said Barnes. "I had wanted to (talk to) them the whole game and was just surprised they would finally talk to me. What happened at the end of the game did not need to happen. I respect him and he respects me. It just did not need to happen."
As soon as his players closed out the scoring by making the free throws, Matta, who appears ready for bigger things (Big Ten soon?), walked down his bench and shook the hands of all his assistants along with a big, wide smile. He then looked into the stands, where a loud group of Xavier fans were dancing and pointed to friends and family.
And why not? The unthinkable is happening, a team that had to beat Saint Joseph's in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament -- Saint Joseph's was undefeated at the time -- to even get a bid into the tournament, was now one game away from the Final Four.
"The talk was NIT if we lost that game," said center Anthony Myles. "We knew we had to win."
They haven't lost since. Using a wonderful outside game, with a lot of drive and kicks for 3-point shots, Xavier is a tough matchup for a lot of teams. They put that drive-and-kick offense on display in the first half against Texas when they took a 44-41 halftime lead.
In the first half, Xavier made 6 of their 13 3-point shots. They did cool in the second half, making just 2 of 12, but they had enough in the end to hold off a late Texas rally after nearly blowing a 9-point lead.
Romain Sato, their wiry, athletic guard from Central Africa whose skills have NBA scouts interested, finished as the game-high scorer with 27 points. He got 14 of those from the free-throw line, missing just three.
Xavier shot 35 free throws, compared to 17 for the Longhorns, so maybe Barnes did have a gripe. There were 47 fouls called in a game that was over-officiated.
In Finn, Sato and senior point guard Lionel Chalmers and freshman forward Justin Doellman, the Musketeers can send four quality shooters on the court, which helps open up a defense.
"We do have four good shooters in our starting lineup," said center Anthony Myles.
What starter isn't a good shooter?
"Me," Myles said laughing.
All he does is the dirty work, rebounding, playing interior defense and throwing his ample body around.
Myles came to Xavier two years ago as a junior college transfer from Olney (Illinois) Junior College. Like many around the country, he had no idea where or what Xavier was about.
"I really didn't know," Myles said. "I was like a lot of people."
This type of tournament run has changed that. Xavier is one of those NCAA tourney feel-good stories, the kind of story that grabs fans and makes them ride the wave until they lose -- if they do.
"No one knew we could get to this point and getting to this point means more than a team like Duke or a team that was supposed to get here," said Chalmers. "It means a whole lot to see how good we are and for everyone to get a chance to see how good we can be."
Getting people to pronounce the name of the school right is already a big step. Imagine what a Final Four berth would do.
It might just stop the opponents from throwing around game-time insults that seem laughable as that player and his teammates now pack for home.
Xavier?
The X-men are definitely X-citing.
