Butler just took down #1 Villanova on Saturday and heads to Cintas Center tonight to play #5 Xavier. 

LET'S GO MUSKIES!
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Down to a 7-man rotation with Tyrique Jones out for concussion protocol. NCAA bid on the line. Against Butler. Doesn't get much bigger than this!

LET'S GO MUSKIES!!!
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After what could have been one of the worst shooting nights in Xavier basketball history, Xavier's chance to recover is Saturday afternoon at Butler.

1 for 21 from 3-pt land at Creighton tells the story of Tuesday night's defeat at a sold-out, loud road game at Creighton. But Xavier is still firmly in the 2nd place spot of the Big East and in the hunt for a very good seed in the Big Dance.

Nothing would make me feel better than a win on the road against Butler so let's do it. Trevon Blueitt and...
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The stage is set and the Muskies meet Butler late Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. 

Xavier played awful at Butler in January, losing by 12. Then X blew out Butler at Cintas in February. They were up by more than 30 for a while and after clearing the bench, ending up winning by 17. That game at XU did not involve Butler's Andrew Chrabascz, who scored at will in the first matchup. He's back from injury so the Muskies will have to slow him down this time around.

It's March so anything can ...
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Xavier is more than likely in the NCAA tourney but a loss at Creighton and a loss in game 1 of the Big East tournament next week would make Xavier Nation VERY nervous on Selection Sunday.

Let's get revenge on the Creighton Bluejays, who beat X at Cintas in February. Creighton started out 0-8 in Big East play but is a much more respectable 4-5 in the last 9 and they are playing the top teams in the league very tough. They fell by 4 to #4 Villanova and by 2 to #19 Butler in their last two home g...
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Fresh off a win over the Bearcats in the Crosstown Shootout, the Muskies have an even bigger game Saturday! The 2nd place Butler Bulldogs will be here for a 2:00 tip-off. Let's hope we again see the same ice cold veins of our Senior point guard, Dee Davis,that he showed us in the Shootout. Dee stepped up BIG time, playing all 40 minutes, going 5 for 5 from 3-pt range, ending with 16 points, 8 assists and only 1 turnover! (That turnover was BS refs! They called a very questionable double-dribb...
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The Muskies are flying high after another top-25 win. After sending #19 Seton Hall packing, Xavier goes to Indy to face Butler. Butler is 11-5 on the year and is always tough in The Barn due to malfunctioning clocks and loosely bolted water fountains. Butler is a 3 point favorite by Vegas odds so the Muskies will have to bring the same fight to the floor that they did on Wednesday night to shut down Seton Hall. Expect Remy Abell to be all over Butler's sharpshooter, Kellen Dunham. Abell has d...
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We're playing Butler for what seems like the millionth time in the past few years.

Road game at 9pm Tuesday, never easy. Vegas has X as a 2 point favorite.

Will there be a draft in the barn? Likely. Will there be clock malfunctions? Probably. Let's hope we can escape with a victory.

Go Muskies!!!

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After a tough loss at Creighton (I'd be shocked if they lose more than 1 game all year in that arena!), the Muskies look to get back on track tonight against Georgetown.

Both teams are 3-1 in the Big East, with only Villanova and Creighton ahead of them in the standings.

Another big matchup of high-scoring Sophomores: Semaj Christon vs D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera. DSR once committed to Xavier and then decided to eventually go to Georgetown. But I think all XU fans out there would agree, we are VERY ...

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Fresh off a New Year's Eve win against St. John's, Xavier hosts Butler for it's 2nd conference game.  Butler comes in at 10-3 and with some close losses to some very good teams (Villanova & Oklahoma State). Xavier, now 11-3, carries a 6 game win streak into the game.

This rivalry game promises to be a good one, as usual. Both teams are playing stout defense, giving up just over 63 points a game. Both teams are led in scoring by Sophomores with Semaj Christon averaging 14.4 pts/gm and Kellen Du...
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Brad Stevens has left the Butler Bulldogs to join the Boston Celtics?!? Yes, it's true. On the eve of Butler's first season in the Big East, they have no head coach.

A Butler grad and a man who many considered a lifer at Butler, Stevens couldn't say no to the 6 year, $22 MILLION deal that the Celtics offered.

Butler grad and current Michigan assistant, LaVall Jordan, is the rumored top candidate at this point.
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You can always count on not counting on any help from the refs at the old Hinkle barn. The Muskies played with heart and fight Saturday night but came up just short against Butler and their psuedo-child coach.

The narrow loss dropped X from a possible 4th place A10 finish down to the 7th seed and sets them up with an opening round matchup against St. Joe's on Thursday at 6:30. X lost on the road to the Hawks earlier this year. St. Joe's is a talented team that just haven't been able put it tog...
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Back in mid-November the underdog Muskies beat the heck out of favored Butler at Cintas Center, 62-47. Soon after, Butler started playing at the level most expected, and then some. They beat then # 9 ranked UNC (obviously they were not a top 10 team), #1 ranked Indiana, and #8 (now #1) ranked Gonzaga. Not too shabby. Butler sits at 23-7 and 10-5 in the A10 after dropping games 2 of their last 3. They lost to SLU and VCU before beating UMass. A Xavier win at Butler on their Senior night would ...
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The Muskies next play the Bad version of the Rams, Rhode Island. As you recall, X had a tough enough time playing the Ugly Rams, Fordham, last week. So, this could be bad news. While we pulled out the win vs Fordham at home, this one is on the road and the Muskies road woes continue (reminder - I hate you Dayton).

So what's the deal with Rhode Island? Well, since their fall from basketball respectability more than a decade ago, not much good has happened, unless NITs are what you're striving f...
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As we've seen often this year, it didn't look pretty at times but the Muskies got it done. A rough 1st half with Dee Davis in foul trouble put the Muskies behind early. But Semaj Christon and Justin Martin played big last night.

Christon - 19 pts, 5 ast, 2 stl
Martin - 16 pts, 7 reb, 2 blk
Taylor - 10 pts, 9 reb
Robinson - 10 pts in 19 min
Davis - 10 pts, 4 ast in 24 min

That's right, all 5 starters scored in double-digits; a rare feat this year. Also, Redford hit a couple 3s and Landen Amos dunked...
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The Muskies shocked the Bulldogs today. Xavier, a 5 point underdog a home, looked like the experienced team and shut down Butler defensively.

It was a great effort all around by the whole team. Dee Davis did an amazing job slowing down Butler's star shooter, Rotnei Clark, and added 9 points. Semaj Christon hadn't been at practice for several days before yesterday and looked a little in his debut but still had an impressive 8 assists off the bench. Jeff Robinson 17 pts/8 reb and Travis Taylor h...
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November 13th, 4:00pm at Cintas Center (and on ESPN), Butler will play Xavier to kick off the season for the Muskies.

We have to make it 4 more months people!  Can we do it?  A few weeks before that we will have Musketeer Madness and probably 2 exhibition games to whet our appetite.

Go Muskies!

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That makes an even 16 team for this fall.

Xavier was already scheduled to play Butler in non-conference play in the ESPN Marathon day to kick off the season so we'll have to see if that will be handled as a conference game or how that will be handled.

 

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The Horizon League might be in a bad way come June 1st.  Rumors popping up today are suggesting that Butler is preparing to announce that they'll be leaving the Horizon League and joining the A10 immediately.

If true, both VCU and Butler will be playing basketball in the Atlantic 10 Conference this fall.  Xavier and Butler were scheduled to play in ESPN's 24-hour basketball marathon so that might be subject to change if both are now A10 schools.  

With Charlotte and Temple staying in the A10 un...
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VCU will be joining the A10 for the 2013-2014 season along with Butler.

With Temple leaving for the Big East and Charlotte now departing for the CUSA, the A10 will keep 14 teams in the conference.  It's shaping up to be a very solid group of teams in the A10.
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