March 24, 2008

No. 3 Seed Xavier University Musketeers (29-6)

vs. No. 7 Seed West Virginia U. Mountaineers (26-10)

NCAA Tournament West Regional Semifinals

Thur., March 27, 2008 at 4:10 p.m. MT (7:10 p.m. ET)

U.S. Airways Center • Phoenix, Ariz.

 

COMPLETE XAVIER NCAA MEDIA PACKAGE (PDF) | Coach Miller Press Conference

 

Television: CBS Television, including WKRC-TV 12 in Cincinnati. Verne Lundquist will handle the play-by-play duties with analysis from Bill Raftery.

Radio: 700 WLW-AM with play-by-play from XU Hall of Famer and former Musketeer standout Joe Sunderman (`79). Analysis will be provided by Xavier Hall of Famer and XU all-time leading scorer Byron Larkin (`88).

Xavier Media Contact: Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations Tom Eiser -- email: eiser@xavier.edu; office: 513-745-3124; cell: 513-382-5565.

 

The X's and O's

 

• No. 3 seed Xavier, 29-6 overall, recorded a 73-61 come-from-behind win over No. 14 seed Georgia in Washington, D.C., on March 20 and an 85-78 win over No. 6 Purdue on March 22. Senior Drew Lavender scored 18 points and dished nine assists, while junior C.J. Anderson had 18 points and seven rebounds in the Purdue win.

 

• Xavier is back in the NCAA Tournament "Sweet 16" for the third time in school history, including 2008, 2004 and 1990. XU advanced to the "Elite Eight" in 2004.

 

• Xavier is making its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance and its seventh in the last eight years. Xavier, which is making its 19th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament, is making its 18th appearance in the last 26 seasons. Xavier's first appearance was in 1961, although XU didn't return again until 1983.

 

• The No. 3 seed equals Xavier's best ever. XU was also a No. 3 seed in the 2003 NCAA Tournament behind National Player of the Year David West, beating Troy State and then losing to defending National Champion Maryland.

 

• Xavier, 29-6, has now broken the school record for most wins in an entire season, which was previously owned by the 1989-90 "Sweet 16" team (28-5).

 

• Xavier, 29-6, has secured its third straight 20-win season and its 11th 20-win season in the last 12 years.

 

• Xavier was 12th in the final Associated Press Poll and is 12th in the latest USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll.

 

• Xavier fourth-year head coach Sean Miller is the 2007-08 Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year. The NABC named Miller as its 2008 NABC District 10 Coach of the Year. He is also a candidate for many National Coach of the Year honors.

 

• Xavier, 14-2 in the 2008 Atlantic 10 Conference regular season race, won sole possession of its second straight Atlantic 10 Regular Season Championship.

 

• Xavier senior Stanley Burrell was the 2007-08 Atlantic 10 Conference Defensive Player of the Year and is a candidate for National Defensive Player of the Year honors.

 

• Xavier has five players averaging in double figures in scoring and a sixth that is very close: senior Josh Duncan (12.1 ppg.), senior Drew Lavender (11.0 ppg.), sophomore Derrick Brown (10.9 ppg.), juniors C.J. Anderson (10.7 ppg.) and B.J. Raymond (10.1 ppg.) and senior Stanley Burrell (9.8 ppg.).

 

• Xavier wins with balance as evidenced by the fact that XU is 22-0 when four or more players score in double figures, including the second round win over Purdue.

 

• Xavier holds the second-best record percentage-wise in March in NCAA Division I since 2001-02 (min. 25 games as of 3-27-08): Kansas (43-10 for .811) and Xavier (34-11 for .756). The 2001-02 season was Sean Miller's first season on the Xavier campus, the first of three seasons as XU's first-ever associate head coach. Miller, who is in his fourth year as XU's head coach, is in his seventh straight year on the XU campus.