CINCINNATI -- After a sloppy opening win, No.
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. 11 Xavier spent its time working on defense. It was much improved the
second time around.J.P. Macura scored 18 points and the Musketeers took
advantage of 38 personal fouls by Buffalo, pulling away for an 86-53
victory on Monday night.The Musketeers (2-0) quickly opened a
double-digit lead and got the balance back in their offense after
relying on career highs for points by Trevon Bluiett and Edmond Sumner
in their opening 84-81 win over Lehigh. Bluiett and Sumner had 13 points
apiece on Monday.We took a step forward today, said Rashid Gaston , who
had nine points and seven rebounds.The defense was much better, too,
allowing few uncontested shots.Practice these last past couple days have
really geared toward defense, Gaston said. We had to play more team
defense.Buffalo (1-1) couldnt keep up with Xaviers quickness and quickly
got into foul trouble. The Bulls trailed 42-22 late in the first half
and had more fouls (23) than points.Two Bulls fouled out with 8 minutes
left in the game, and Xavier went 28 of 38 at the line. Macura made all
of his 10 free throws.Our team used Buffalos aggressiveness to our
advantage, coach Chris Mack said.Nick Perkins led the Bulls with 15
points, and they shot only 31 percent from the field. Some of the Bulls
complained about the many fouls called, but coach Nick Oats didnt see it
that way.We need to learn to play defense without fouling, Oats said.
Our guys said they got (bad calls), but those officials worked the
tournament. They didnt cost us 30 fouls.With the big lead, Mack was able
to use some of the freshmen who struggled in the opening win. Guard
Quentin Goodin was tentative in the opener, but had 11 points and four
assists after the coaching staff urged him to relax.I wasnt really
scared, just hesitant, Goodin said. Tonight I played loose, started
having fun, and it worked out. I just played the way I did when they
recruited me.A LOT OF WHISTLESThe officiating crew of John Gaffney,
Brent Hampton and Alfred Smith also called 21 fouls on Xavier for 59
total. The Bulls went 13 of 21 on free throws.TOUGH AT HOMEThe
Musketeers improved to 218-31 at the Cintas Center.POLL
IMPLICATIONSXavier slipped from No. 7 -- the highest preseason ranking
in its history -- to No. 11 in Mondays poll, based upon the Musketeers
sloppy win over Lehigh. They looked much better in this one.BIG
PICTUREBuffalo: Blake Hamilton, the Bulls top returning scorer and
rebounder, missed most of the preseason workouts with a broken
non-shooting hand. He had 11 points and eight rebounds in a 76-66 win
over Niagara on Friday. Hamilton fouled out against Xavier with eight
points and three rebounds.Xavier: The Musketeers had three turnovers and
defensive lapses in the final 61 seconds of their win over Lehigh, so
holding onto the ball was a point of emphasis. They turned it over only
nine times.The biggest part with the turnovers is we just had to settle
down, Gaston said.UP NEXTBuffalo: Hosts Nazareth on Thursday, the Bulls
only home game out of their first nine. Their next home game is Dec. 10
against Coppin State.Xavier: Plays Missouri on Thursday in the opening
round of the Tire Pros Invitational in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.---More
AP college basketball:
http://collegebasketball.ap.org
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He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans.
Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night.
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Fernandez, coached in Toronto by former two-time Olympic silver
medallist Brian Orser, scored 267.11 points and is the first champion to
successfully defend since Russias Evgeny Plushenko in 2005 and 2006.
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Kuznetsov, who was selected by the Capitals in the first round of the
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Traktor of the KHL.
PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico -- Pat Perez won the OHL Classic at
Mayakoba on Sunday in his third start since returning from shoulder
surgery.Perez closed with a 4-under 67 for a two-stroke victory over
third-round leader Gary Woodland on the Greg Norman-designed El Camaleon
course. Perez finished at 21-under 263.I had an attitude that I cant
really repeat, but I had a lot of thoughts going on, Perez said. The
main one was I wanted to stay aggressive. I knew if I just stayed
aggressive I was seeing the line great on the putting green. ... This
type of grass and these greens, if you can get it on line you can make
them.I just saw the line, I thought I could make them all and I just had
a confidence. I had an entirely different attitude than I would have
had a few years ago. It was definitely a different win than last time.
Last time, I was a little more scared coming down the stretch. I didnt
really believe and this and that. This time, I really had like this
calmness, kind of like a madness to get it done.Perez had surgery on his
shoulder in February. He returned with a tie for 33rd in Malaysia, and
tied for seventh last week in Las Vegas.When you hit 40 and then you
have surgery, its like `Oh, God, you know, what are we going to do?
Perez said. I had sleepless nights, I had a lot of sleepless nights
wondering, `What are we going to do? How are we going to do this? Whats
going to happen here? What would happen here? Because all you do is sit
around and think. Thats all you have time is to sit around. Youre just
sitting in a sling doing nothing and you cant hit balls ffor five
months.
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I had a lot of time to think about a lot of things.Perez shot a 62 on
Saturday to pull within a stroke of Woodland. The 40-year-old former
Arizona State player birdied five of the first eight holes and had a
bogey on the par-4 12th.In a lot of ways, when you win youve got to have
a lot of things go your way, Perez said. Youve got to make a lot of
putts, you need some help from other players. Its everything. Its so
hard to win. But I just had this different look about it this week and
Ill hopefully carry that through for a while.He also won the 2009 Bob
Hope Classic.I guess Im just one of those late-maturers, Perez said. I
know I was sort of a punk and all that early on, but I think I learned a
lot about myself in the last nine, 10 months and it just paid off this
week. I couldnt be more excited about whats going on.Woodland birdied
the final two holes for a 70.Russell Knox was third at 18 under after a
66.I wasnt all that comfortable out there. Knox said. This course kind
of makes you put the steer on sometimes, but I made seven birdies. A
couple mistakes, but overall starting the day I would have taken 66.Chez
Reavie (67), Kevin Streelman (65) and Scott Piercy (70) were 17
under.Great first, third and fourth rounds, just struggled there on
Friday, which cost me winning the tournament, but a lot of good stuff,
Streelman said, pointing to a second-round 73. Obviously, its early in
the year and real excited.
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