December 10, 2008 | AP Press

CINCINNATI, OH – Freshman point guard Terrell Holloway returned from a stress fracture in his foot and put the sizzle back into Xavier’s offense Wednesday night, helping the Musketeers (No. 9 ESPN/USA Today, No. 10 AP) stay unbeaten with a 78-56 victory over Ohio.

Xavier (8-0) has matched the second-best start in its history — the 1992-93 team opened the same way. The school record is a 10-0 start by the 1996-97 team.

Even though the record remained perfect, the Musketeers have had problems on offense in their last two games without Holloway, their quickest ball handler, best free-throw shooter and flashiest playmaker. He was back in form during the last five minutes of the first half, leading an 18-2 run that left Ohio (4-4) down and out.

C.J. Anderson scored a career-high 22 points, and Derrick Brown added 18 in a balanced offense that had its point guard back. Holloway’s best moments came during the decisive run.

He passed to Brown for a three-point play, hit a floating jumper in the key, and had a steal and a pass to Brown for a fastbreak dunk that highlighted the run and put Xavier up 48-25 at halftime. Holloway had those two points, three assists and three rebounds in 15 minutes.

Brown was 7-for-7 from the field, making all three of his shots from behind the arc, one week after coach Sean Miller wondered aloud about his inconsistent play as he recovers from a sprained ankle.

Miller was so upset with his team’s lackadaisical defense in the second half of an 81-74 win over Auburn a week earlier that he threatened lineup changes. The lineup was the same on Wednesday, and with Holloway back, so was the offense.

The next one will be a tough one. To stay perfect, the Musketeers will have to beat crosstown rival Cincinnati on the Bearcats’ home court Saturday. The way the rivalry has played out, the team with the better record or higher ranking is the one in for a rough time.

Cincinnati (6-1) will have had a full week off when its plays Xavier, which has won six of the last nine games between the schools separated by only 3½ miles.

First, the Musketeers had to try to find their form against an Ohio team playing for the fourth time in eight days. Xavier wore down the Bobcats with its crushing run at the end of the first half and led by 28 points when both teams substituted freely for the closing minutes.

Jerome Tillman led Ohio with 16 points.

With five stalwarts left from its Elite Eight team and eight newcomers, Xavier won its first six games with defense, rebounding and grit. The victory over Auburn — Xavier got up by 24 in the second half, then went soft — raised concerns about their mind-set.

In the first half against Ohio, the Musketeers looked their old selves. They shot 69 percent from the field, their best half in more than four years. The last time Xavier shot so well was the second half of an 87-67 win over Saint Joseph’s in the Atlantic 10 tournament in Dayton on March 11, 2004.

The game amounted to a homecoming for first-year Ohio coach John Groce, who was an assistant with Miller on Thad Matta’s staff at Xavier in 2001. The Bobcats fell to 2-21 against top 10 teams, the wins coming over No. 4 Kentucky in 1964 and No. 4 Ohio State in 1971.

December 3, 2008 | AP Press

CINCINNATI, OH -— B.J. Raymond scored a career-high 32 points against an Auburn defense that already knew better than to leave him open, and No. 14 Xavier remained undefeated Wednesday night with an 81-74 victory, Sean Miller’s 100th as coach.

The Musketeers (7-0) matched the third-best start in their history and their best since 1996-97, when they won their first 10 for the school record. Raymond and the rest of the Musketeers kept it going by firing away from outside against the Tigers (3-4), who had trouble with that before.

In Xavier’s 80-57 win at Auburn last Jan. 6, the Musketeers tied their school record by making 16 3-pointers. Raymond led the way in that one, going 6-of-8 from behind the arc with 18 points overall—a performance that the Tigers surely remembered.

Stunningly, they left him open enough times to top it, letting Miller improve his record to 100-39 in his fifth season at Xavier.

Frankie Sullivan scored a career-high 23 points and helped Auburn cut a 22-point deficit to 60-51 with 6:55 left in the game. Raymond—who else— blunted the comeback by making back-to-back 3-pointers, giving him a career-high seven in nine attempts.

Xavier went 13-of-23 from behind the arc and shot 53.5 percent from the field, but its 22 turnovers and 22-of-36 shooting on free throws allowed Auburn to keep it close.

The Musketeers wore their special gray home jerseys for the first time since last Dec. 22, when they lost to Tennessee, their only loss in their last 29 games at the Cintas Center. The Musketeers never trailed in this one.

Raymond had 16 points in a sloppy first half that featured a dozen turnovers by each team. He hit back-to-back 3s, the second one when he was unguarded on the left wing, in an eight-point run that closed the half and left Xavier in control 37-26.

Against Miami of Ohio last Saturday, Raymond had one of those rare games when he struggles with his shot, missing all but the last of his eight 3-point attempts. It didn’t carry over against an Auburn defense more worried about taking away Xavier’s inside game.

Even 7-foot freshman center Kenny Frease made the first 3-pointer of his career, connecting when he was left unguarded at the top of the key.

A few hours before the game, the NCAA rejected sophomore point guard Jordan Crawford’s request to play for Xavier this season. Crawford transferred last summer from Indiana, and was hoping not to have to sit out a season.

Freshman point guard Terrell Holloway, the team’s best free-throw shooter and quickest ball handler, missed his second game with a stress fracture in his left foot that will sideline him for at least one more week. Xavier is down to one point guard—Dante Jackson, who is more of a shooting guard.

November 22, 2008 | AP Press

Auburn, Ala. – Tay Waller had 19 points and Frankie Sullivan added 17 to Auburn overcome 15-point deficit to beat George Washington 83-71 on Saturday.

Trailing 44-29 at the half, the Tigers (2-1) outscored the Colonials 25-9 in the first 10 minutes of the second half, as Waller’s 3-pointer put Auburn ahead since a 20-17 lead in the first half.

The Tigers led 64-62 with just under 5 minutes to play and 14 of their last 19 points came from the foul line. The Tigers made 14 of 17 attempts down the stretch and were 27 of 36 for the game.

Damian Hollis scored 13 of his 16 points in the first half for George Washington (2-1).

Waller also had five steals, four rebounds and three assists for the Tigers. Lucas Hargrove scored 13 points and Korvotney Barber added 11.