No. 10 Xavier takes care of Duquesne 75-48 in men’s basketball
Published 11:27 pm Thursday, February 21, 2008
CINCINNATI — Xavier point guard Drew Lavender played sparingly and moved hesitantly because of a sprained ankle.
No problem for the 10th-ranked Musketeers, who used the setback to show once again why they are one of the nation’s most difficult teams to stop no matter who is on the court.
Derrick Brown and C.J. Anderson had double-doubles Thursday night in a balanced offense that hardly missed its injured playmaker, and Xavier rolled to its ninth straight win, 75-48 over Duquesne.
The Musketeers (23-4, 11-1) solidified their hold on first place in the Atlantic 10 with one of their more impressive performances, given the injury to one of the nation’s top point guards. Shooting guard Stanley Burrell spent most of his time in Lavender’s spot and had a career-high 12 assists.
Afterward, he sat next to Brown and Anderson, a blue towel wrapped around his neck, and made it sound easy.
“When you’ve got guys like this that can finish and guys that can shoot on the wings like B.J. (Raymond), it should be no problem,” Burrell said. “With Drew going down, I had to step up and help at that point guard spot and give him a chance to get healthy.
“We’re a total team. When one guy goes down, somebody else has to step up.”
No. 21 Notre Dame 82, Pittsburgh 70: At South Bend, Ind., Luke Harangody had 23 points and 12 rebounds and Tory Jackson added 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Fighting Irish, who overcame an 11-point deficit in the second half. Notre Dame (20-5, 10-3 Big East) has 35 won straight home games, three shy of tying the school record.
