Xavier to the Sweet Sixteen,Ohio State moves on in the NIT

I have tried to get this finished twice before,so here is hoping that the third time is the charm!

A quick look back at Xavier's 85-78 win on Saturday over Purdue shows that the main difference between two closely matched teams was just one thing.
Experience.
The Musketeers led by experienced seniors Josh Duncan,Stanley Burrell and Drew Lavender had been there before and the talented young Boilermakers had not and that was the difference in the crucial crunch time.
Xavier used (as usual) balanced scoring as Lavender and Junior C.J. Anderson each scored 18 points,while Duncan added 16.
The Musketeers use balance to increase their offensive versatility and that makes them a very difficult team to prepare for and I give them a very good chance of a Final Four trip,although UCLA looms large,if Xavier can get by West Virginia on Thursday night.

Ohio State moved on the final eight of the NIT with a 73-56 blasting of California at St.John's Arena.
The crowd for the game was incredible and the atmosphere was more similar to a important Big Ten game than a second round NIT game.
I would attribute that to the sentimental return to St.John's,but the Buckeyes came to play and had little problems with the Golden Bears.
Jamal Butler paced OSU with 20 points,while Frosh Kosta Koufos tossed in 17 from the paint.
Othello Hunter controlled the boards with a career high 16 rebounds.
Ohio State returns to the Schottstein Center tonight for a in-state battle against Dayton for the right to travel to New York for the tournament semis.
Tough game tonight as this is another case of the silly Ohio State policy of not playing in-state schools in basketball (when they go out of their way to other sports) that could haunt them.
The Flyers are a talented and motivated team and could pull the upset tonight.

Bullpen Notes

Thumbs down on the Dick Vitale idea of no players being able to foul out of a game.
Vitale's idea is that for each foul a player commits after five,the fouled team will receive two foul shots and the ball.
Sorry,being able to control fouls is part of the game and this just hurts the less talented team.

Finally was able to watch the Juan Manuel Marquez-Manny Pacquiao fight on delay from HBO and it was a classic.
We scored it 114-112 Marquez,but would not argue a similar score for Pacquiao.
One thing is beyond dissent-they need to hook it up and do it again!

The NBA is looking at raising the minimum draft age from 19 to 20.
We support this all the way,as this would lessen the one season "hired gun" types that have been populating college hoops and diminishing the game!

Back with a extra post later with Devils-Penguins,Our take on the Freddy Sanchez problems and more!

Photo Credits
Burrell-LA Times
Koufos-Terry Gilliam-AP Photo