‘We’ve been waiting for him.’ Xavier leaves Texas with silver lining in Dante Maddox

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FORT WORTH, Texas − If there was a Texas-size slice of optimism for the Xavier Musketeers following a frustrating 76-72 loss to TCU Thursday night, it came from an unlikely source.

Guard Dante Maddox was the spark Xavier needed in the Big East-Big 12 Battle.

Playing 20 minutes, his most since Nov. 8, Maddox found his stroke from the perimeter, knocking down a trio of 3-pointers. Even more important, Maddox was active on the defensive end with a team-high six defensive rebounds.

“I thought Dante Maddox was the highlight of our trip,” Xavier head coach Sean Miller told The Enquirer from the bowels of Schollmaier Arena after having time to reflect on the Musketeers’ close call. “We’ve been waiting on him.”

Observations: Here’s what we learned from Xavier Musketeers’ loss to TCU Horned Frogs

To say Maddox had struggled over the first eight games of his Xavier career would be an understatement.

Maddox, a career double-digit scorer (11.7 points per game) and 40.1% three-point shooter over his first four collegiate seasons at Cal State Fullerton and Toledo, was inconsistent in several areas over the first month of the season.

Outside of a 16-point performance against Jackson State, Maddox combined for just 17 points on 6-of-28 shooting (2-of-16 from three-point range) in seven games.

Guard Dante Maddox (21), pictured against Wake Forest Nov. 16, had 9 points and 6 rebounds off the bench against TCU.

Against South Carolina State, Miller shortened his bench and Maddox played less than a minute. Afterward, he had harsh words when it came to the depth of his team.

“I really feel like you can almost be baited into a false sense of how deep your team is because you’re around guys every day and have a good, older group, which we do,” Miller said. “You see the good in a lot of different guys. It’s not until you get 8-to-10, 10-to-15 games in when you truly understand how deep your team is.”

Even with the offseason loss of big man Lassina Traore, Xavier was labeled as a deep team with a rotation…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/weve-waiting-him-xavier-leaves-175832286.html

Author : Cincinnati.com | The Enquirer

Publish date : 2024-12-07 17:58:00

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