FanHouse StanleyBurrell

With all due respect to my fellow FanHouser Charles Rich, I think that Joe Alexander's missed free throw towards the end of regulation is the biggest un-clutch play of the tournament.

I hesitate to use the word choke because he made a sensational shot just to get the "and-one" play and tie the game 64-64 in the first place. He isn't a goat so much because his production was there in the second half and led to West Virginia's comeback effort.

But, let's get real: his missed free throw cost them the game and a chance to play UCLA in the West Regional Finals. He will be haunted by this for a long, long time.

And it was something that maybe Xavier's Stanley Burrell had to do with, as he tells SI.com:

The most glaring example of West Virginia's bungling came at the end of regulation. Star forward Joe Alexander was at the free-throw line with 14 seconds left, looking to convert a three-point play after his quick turnaround tied the score at 64.

Burrell jarred at him, "Come on, you are going to miss this one," and Alexander responded with a comment that, as Burrell put it, "You don't want to put in any [article]." After a longer-than-usual approach, Alexander's free throw rimmed out, and the game went to overtime.

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.

The crowd was standing all game, making a lot of noise for their Musketeers, and when Bruce Pearl picked up a technical foul with just under four minutes to play it looked like Tennessee was coming apart. The players had more composure than their coach, though. They forced four turnovers in those final four minutes and closed with a 13-2 run for an 82-75 win.

Tyler Smith was the standout for the Vols during that run. He scored six of his 12 points, blocked a shot and had a key steal to help the Vols to their biggest win of the season. They wouldn't have been in position to pull it off if not for the great first half turned in by J.P. Prince. With Chris Lofton and the normally deadly Vol three-point shooters shut down, Prince, playing just his third game in orange, kept driving through the perimeter focused Musketeer defense. He had 16 points in the first 20 minutes and his play off the bench will make Tennessee a dangerous team as the season progresses.

The loss is a tough one for Xavier to swallow.

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.

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.

Elsewhere on the hardwood: