Xavier

Temple shrugged off a terrible start and raced to a thrilling finish in last night's Atlantic Ten Conference women's basketball championship. However, the Owls fell just short in overtime against fifth-ranked Xavier in a 57-55 loss at the Show Place Arena. Temple had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds, but Qwedia Wallace's short shot from the edge of the paint bounced off the rim. "Our guys played a hell of a game and deserved to win," Temple coach Tonya Cardoza said of her team's recovery from a 14-0 deficit at the outset.

CINCINNATI - Saint Joseph's had about one thing going in its favor entering last night's game against Xavier. And having history on its side didn't exactly give St. Joe's much of a reason to look on the bright side. The Hawks were the last Atlantic 10 team to defeat Xavier at the the Cintas Center - almost 6 years ago. But they were without leading scorer Carl Jones as they entered this meeting with what coach Phil Martelli called the Atlantic 10's best team. St. Joe's ultimately couldn't overcome Jones' injury absence, committing a season-high 19 turnovers in a 68-55 loss to Xavier in front of 9,919.

Amber Harris scored a season-high 23 points and No. 6 Xavier earned its 10th straight win with a 63-56 victory over visiting Saint Joseph's in a women's basketball matchup last night. Xavier (19-3, 9-0 Atlantic 10) opened with an 11-0 run and never trailed. The Hawks (12-12, 4-4) used an 11-0 run that cut the lead to 59-56 with 55 seconds left. Michelle Baker led Saint Joseph's with 12 points. In another women's game: At Temple, the Owls (18-6) scored 39 points in the second half en route to a 66-54 win over UMass (9-15)

Abington Friends graduate Jason Love got his 19th rebound with 9.8 seconds left and made a clinching free throw, leading Xavier to an 83-79 double-overtime victory over No. 19 Cincinnati last night in a nasty and classic renewal of their crosstown rivalry. Xavier (6-3) wasted a 10-point lead in regulation, survived Lance Stephenson's off-target shot at the end of the first overtime, then pulled it out on its home court behind its lone senior. Cincinnati (6-2) has dropped three straight and 10 of the last 14 against Xavier.

Already, things are falling into place. Yesterday, less than 24 hours after learning Rutgers and West Virginia were leaving to join the Big East in 1995-96, the Atlantic 10, as anticipated, invited Xavier to join. This likely will not be the A-10's last expansion move. But getting Xavier from the beleaguered Midwestern Collegiate Conference is a solid step in the right direction. "We are elated, given (Xavier's) outstanding reputation both academically and athletically," said A-10 commissioner Ron Bertovich, who is leaving after the season to take a job with a cable company in Buffalo.

Xavier's chances were hurt when its best player was hurt. Center David West sprained an ankle, and the Musketeers fell to crosstown rival Cincinnati last night, 75-55. Steve Logan scored 22 points for the Bearcats. The crosstown rivalry revolved around West, the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, and Logan, who won the honor in Conference USA. In the second half, West hobbled while Logan led Cincinnati to a long-awaited win. The Bearcats (7-1) had lost four of their last five against Xavier (5-3)

Whether or not this is the effort that turns around the fortunes for St. Joseph's basketball team, the chance that this season will slide away has at least been delayed. Langston Galloway and Carl Jones keyed a late second-half flurry as St. Joseph's scored a 59-49 win over Xavier in an Atlantic Ten game Saturday at Hagan Arena. Coming off a 73-64 home loss Wednesday to visiting St. Bonaventure, St. Joseph's improved to 11-7, and 2-3 in the A-10. Xavier, which owns A-10 wins over La Salle and Temple, is 11-8, 4-2. Galloway, Jones, and Halil Kanacevic each had 15 points for the Hawks, who scored the game's final 12 points.

Josh Duncan scored 23 points, B.J. Raymond added 14 and No. 10 Xavier overcame a furious second-half run to hold on for an 81-77 win over host Rhode Island last night. The win was Xavier's eighth straight and the 14th in its last 15 games, as the Musketeers (22-4, 10-1 Atlantic 10) also won their fifth straight on the road. Parfait Bitee scored 25 points and Will Daniels added 23 for the Rams (20-6, 6-5). In other games: At Providence, Roy Hibbert had 18 points and Jonathan Wallace added 14 and No. 12 Georgetown (21-4, 11-3 Big East)

ATLANTA - Quincy Acy, the only senior in Baylor's starting lineup, had a double-double to help the Bears hold off Xavier, 75-70, on Friday night and advance to their second regional final in three years. Baylor will face the Kentucky-Indiana winner in Sunday's South Regional final. Acy had 20 points and 15 rebounds. He sank two free throws with 31 seconds remaining after Xavier cut the Bears' lead to six points. Baylor coach Scott Drew said it never gets old watching Acy play.

The moon and stars must be in the right alignment for La Salle women's coach John Miller. His Explorers gave him a belated birthday present yesterday with a 63-61 upset of Xavier of Ohio in an Atlantic Ten game at the Tom Gola Arena. The victory followed another piece of good luck for Miller, who gained a small financial prize by playing his daughter's birth date in the Pennsylvania lottery Friday. "We were supposed to play on Friday," Miller said of the one-day delay caused by Xavier's weather-related travel problems.

LOS ANGELES - Ever since Thad Matta and Sean Miller shared a tiny office at Miami of Ohio nearly two decades ago, the coaches' friendship has survived job changes, practical jokes, and a few hundred bucks in unpaid lunch tabs. They've worked together and recruited against each other. They've shared scouting tips and sought job advice. They even briefly lived under the same roof with their entire families. "I wouldn't be here today without him," Miller said Wednesday. "I learned a lot from him, enjoyed being around him when we worked together, and we remain very good friends.

NEW YORK - The breakaway basketball schools kept the Big East name and the conference tournament in Madison Square Garden. In return, they left behind tens of millions of dollars to the football members. That was easy to do with a lucrative television contract awaiting. The new Big East launched as a 10-member league Wednesday with the additions of Butler, Creighton, and Xavier, and a 12-year deal with Fox. The agreement is worth about $500 million, with the possibility of increasing to $600 million should the league add more members, according to a person with knowledge of the details.

Xavier is ready to leave the Atlantic Ten and join the reconfigured Big East, which will announce its expansion plans on Wednesday, two sources familiar with the moves told the Associated Press. Seven Catholic schools - Villanova, Georgetown, St. John's, Providence, Seton Hall, Marquette and DePaul - split off from the Big East to form a basketball league last week, retaining the name and looking to add schools. The league plans to announce its plans on Wednesday morning in New York City.

NEW YORK - The two conferences growing out of the old Big East are moving forward. Butler, Creighton and Xavier will join the so-called Catholic 7 schools in the new basketball conference keeping the Big East name, a person familiar with the situation said Tuesday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement will not take place until Wednesday, when it will be made in conjunction with a news conference on the league's broadcast deal with Fox. Georgetown, St. John's, Villanova, Seton Hall, Providence, Marquette and DePaul left to form a new league for next season.

Xavier Lundy was a basketball star at a wrestling school known for its football program. He knew it, too. "One of my personal goals was to get us more attention as a basketball team," Lundy said of his career at Paulsboro. "We always used to get overshadowed in our school and in South Jersey. "I wanted people to know the kind of talent we have in basketball in this town. " A four-year starter who finished his career with 2,121 points, Lundy did more than make basketball a sport in the spotlight at Paulsboro.

PHIL MARTELLI has been around the Atlantic 10 far longer than any coach or even administrator in the league. He is often consulted on league matters. He knows college basketball and its politics. The Saint Joseph's coach knows Butler and Xavier are almost certainly going to the new Big East. He also realizes Dayton and Saint Louis could be following. Martelli, however, is not looking beyond the Atlantic 10 Tournament games at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. "Anybody that goes up there and thinks that it's their place to say, 'Well, I heard, or this is going to happen,' this is about the strongest, deepest, Atlantic 10 field ever," Martelli said.

St. Joseph's is looking to duplicate some recent history when it begins Atlantic Ten tournament play Thursday. As the No. 10 seed, the Hawks were only seeded lower once, in 2011 when they entered the tournament No. 12. That season St. Joseph's won two consecutive overtime tournament games before being eliminated in the semifinals by Dayton, 64-61. "We showed we could do it two years ago, and we hope that it can happen again," said guard Langston Galloway, who is averaging 13.3 points a game.

Tenth-seeded Temple upset seventh-seeded Xavier in the first-round of the Atlantic Ten women's basketball tournament at Hagen Arena on Friday. Victoria Macaulay scored 12 points and hauled in a game-high 14 rebounds to lead the Owls (13-17) to a quarterfinal matchup with second-seeded Charlotte (24-4) on Saturday at 5 p.m. Rateska Brown came off the bench to score a game-high 14 points for the Owls. Xavier (13-16) took a 12-3 advantage early, but an 18-3 Temple run in the second half put the game out of reach for Xavier.

At Hagan Arena. George Washington vs. Richmond, 11:30 a.m.; Duquesne vs. VCU, 2:30 p.m.; Xavier vs. Temple, 5 p.m.; Butler vs. St. Louis, 7:30 p.m.

THEY WILL HAVE two conference tournaments in New York next week, one at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan and one at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. There will be 15 schools at the Garden, 12 at Barclays. By my count, just three of the Big East 15 are committed beyond next season. And you know if Connecticut, Cincinnati and/or South Florida could find a better landing spot, they would be gone. By comparison, the Atlantic 10, which may eventually lose six of its 16, is a model of stability.