Defense is supposed to travel, but the Xavier Musketeers didn't bring it with them to the Barclays Center on Wednesday night against Iowa State in the NIT Season Tip-Off.
The defense that led Xavier through its first four games and helped produce a No. 25 ranking in the latest Associated Press poll, got torn to shreds by Iowa State guard Izaiah Brockington, who led the Cyclones to an 82-70 win with 23 of his game-high 30 points in the second half.
"You guys ask questions about the defensive end and you're 1,000% right," said Xavier head coach Travis Steele. "This is the first time I didn't feel like we played towards our identity this year. Iowa State was the harder playing team. They were the more physical team. They were the tougher team tonight. That's why they won the game. Point blank. End of story."
Inexplicably, Xavier repeatedly let Brockington, a left-hander, drive to his left and create his shot.
"Brockington got right to his left," said Steele. "We obviously went over that on the scouting report. He's a really good player going to his left ... can't let him get to his left. Details matter."
To start the game, Iowa State attacked the glass, which helped the Cyclones build an early lead.
After Xavier closed the first half with a run that gave the Musketeers a 39-38 lead at the break, Xavier was sloppy to start the second half and let Iowa State start the half with a 9-0 run.
"Their physicality tonight on both ends defensively and offensively, whether it was their offensive rebounding to start the game, then denying on the defensive end, I thought we had a hard time getting open," said Steele. "We gotta be stronger on our drives, stronger with the ball. I think we finished with 17 turnovers which is just completely ridiculous."
There wasn't much to be pleased with from Xavier's perspective. Other than the way Xavier finished the first half, Jack Nunge's collegiate career-high 24 points, and another double-double (11 points, 12 rebounds) from Colby Jones, the rest of the night was forgettable from a Musketeer vantage point.
Paul Scruggs played his worst game of the season at both ends of the floor. He had a hard time defending Brockington and he had an even harder time getting going offensively. Scruggs went 1-for-14 from the floor and he missed his final 13 shots of the game.
"He just couldn't get it going," Steele said of Scruggs. "Give a lot of credit to Iowa State, I thought they defended him well. I also thought he had some really good looks, he was missing lay-ups and 3s. He had some uncharacteristic turnovers. He'll be back. Paul's a great player."
Scruggs and Nate Johnson, Xavier two fifth-year seniors, each had five turnovers. Jerome Hunter went 3-for-12 from the field and 0-for-6 from beyond the arc as he continues to struggle offensively.
"I thought our guys lost their minds a little bit in the second half. We missed a lay-up early. We missed a couple wide-open 3s early," said Steele. "They went on their run, right, they punched us in the mouth and I thought that really affected our offense."
Adam Kunkel didn't play on Wednesday due to an illness. Kunkel made the trip to New York, but Steele said he's had a rough couple of days and he's battling a fever and he's been throwing up. It's unclear if he'll be able to play on Friday when the Musketeers take on either Memphis or Virginia Tech back at the Barclays Center.
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