FanHouse Josh Duncan

Xavier needed something special on Monday night. Drew Lavender was less than 100% with a sprained ankle and Rhode Island was playing at home and looking to raise some doubt about the fitness of the 10th ranked team in the country. The Musketeers, as they have all season, got that something special and held off the Rams 81-77. The something special? Josh Duncan.

Few teams are deep enough to bring a player of Duncan's abilities off the bench, which is probably why the A-10 regular season title is a fait accompli for Xavier. Duncan played 23 minutes and scored 23 points on perfect shooting. Duncan was 8-of-8 from the floor, giving him 16 straight over the last two games, hit three threes and made all four of his free throws in a virtuoso performance. When Rhode Island's second-half run gave them a lead with seven and a half minutes left, Duncan hit a three to regain the lead for good and hit another minutes later to ice the game.

Duncan was the hero last night but Xavier is so balanced that it could have and has been any of six players. That's why they've run away with the A-10 and why the sky's the limit for their chances in March. The only questions left for the Musketeers is where they'll be seeded (no lower than three, in my mind) and if Sean Miller might be tempted by an opening at Indiana.

There are but a handful of games left to play in the Atlantic-10 season and there's only two things we know for sure. One, more than one team will be dancing come March and, two, Xavier and Rhode Island will be two of them. The Musketeers won their seventh straight last night even though Stanley Burrell and Drew Lavender struggled in Charlotte. Josh Duncan nailed a three with 16 seconds to play and they outlasted the 49ers 62-60.

Winning in all conditions is what makes the Musketeers head and shoulders above the rest of the league. Even the Rams, a lock to my eyes, can't win on the road with consistency. At least they got to overtime before losing to Temple last night. Dayton, unable to compete after Chris Wright's injury, can't even defend their home court anymore.

They dropped a 63-61 decision against Duquesne, which now leads them by two games. It's hard to make a compelling case for why the Flyers should make the tournament and leave the Dukes at home. When you win your games should and does matter in the final reckoning. Yes, Dayton beat Louisville and Pittsburgh but they are 4-6 in league play. Duquesne, on the other hand, is peaking at the right time, even if their best early win was against Niagara.

Another team winning at the right time is Temple.

Xavier took their longest road trip of the season for today's game at Arizona State and, thus, will have plenty of time to ponder their 77-55 loss on the way home to Cincinnati. The Sun Devils were far from gracious hosts. Their zone defense swarmed the Musketeers all afternoon. Every shot Xavier took was a contested one -- they shot 30% overall and hit just 22% of their shots in the second half. Arizona State, on the other hand, shot the lights out in the second 20 minutes, outscoring the Musketeers 44-27.

ASU's performance was all the more impressive because, for what's believed to be the first time in school history, they started four freshmen. One of them, guard Ty Abbott, led them with 19 points and hit five three pointers. Jeff Harden, another freshman and the team's leading scorer this season, added 16 while crusty old sophomore Jerren Shipp had 17. That was all part of a 59.5% day of shooting for the now 7-2 Sun Devils.

Xavier's offensive misery affected all comers but none more so than B.J. Raymond. He led the team with 12 points but was 2-of-10 from three. Drew Lavender and Stanley Burrell didn't help matters by missing 16 of the 21 shots they attempted. Josh Duncan, injured in this week's win against Cincinnati, gave it the old college try but had to leave after five minutes. Sadly, he seemed to take most of Xavier's luck with him.

It's not every day that a team from the Big East plays a team from the Atlantic 10 and finds themselves in the position of underdog. That's just where struggling Cincinnati found itself last night during the intercity shootout with Xavier, though. They almost pulled off the upset, too, by playing a game in the tradition of their former coach Bob Huggins. The Bearcats played rough, physical defense and threw the Musketeers off their game. Xavier's Drew Lavender caught a forearm to the face and Josh Duncan landed wrong after taking a shove to the back and left with an injured knee. A 10-man pileup led to technicals on both sides and all the activity helped Xavier to a miserable 38.6% shooting night. But Cincinnati was even worse, 33.8%, and Derrick Brown scored 11 points over the final seven minutes to escape with a 64-59 win.

Xavier can expect to get such treatment in the future. They're a big dog now and will be hunted by every team they play for the rest of the season. It's been a few years since UMass was such a dog but it might not be much longer.

They opened up a 15-point lead against Boston College in the Commonwealth Classic and then held on for an 83-80 win thanks to Gary Forbes. The swingman scored 10 points in the final five minutes to put the finishing touches on the Minutemen's first win in nine tries against the Eagles. Forbes, Ricky Harris and Chris Lowe combined for 64 points as BC unwisely tried to run the floor all night.

Xavier and UMass are just the tip of the iceberg. Rhode Island is 10-1, Dayton is 7-1, Charlotte is 6-2 and Duquesne is 6-3. The conference slate is going to be chockablock with good games and the NCAA Tournament should be well stocked with the cream of the A-10 crop.

I've already voiced my displeasure with the inclusion of teams like Xavier among the mid-major morass. They have the tradition, the size and the talent to hang with any of the big boys but the Atlantic 10 is still a bit of a redheaded stepchild. The only way they can defy their label is by winning games, something they've done seven out of eight times this season after beating Creighton 79-66 last night. The deep Musketeers got a typically well-balanced scoring night, led by 28 from Drew Lavender. The 5-7 sparkplug usually finds one of his five teammates who score in double figures but took matters into his own hands from the opening tip. He scored 17 in the first half, hit four threes and still found the time to dish out 10 assists.

XU remains under the radar but is a team that can't be slept on. C.J. Anderson, Josh Duncan and Derrick Brown can beat you inside while Lavender, Stanley Burrell and B.J. Raymond control the perimeter. Few teams, regardless of conference, can match that kind of balanced scoring. We'll see who among Tennessee, Kansas State, Auburn, Virginia and Arizona State can, but first the Musketeers will face Cincinnati in a battle for city bragging rights next week.

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