Since an exhibition loss doesn't count against a team's record, what's the biggest risk in a preseason defeat?
"I think we get a little carried away with exhibition games for the fear of people roasting us on Twitter," Xavier head coach Richard Pitino said after his Musketeers pulled out a 76-70 win over Kent State at Cintas Center Oct. 23. "That's what social media does. It puts everybody on edge because we don't wanna get crapped on all the time by everybody."
Xavier avoided any social media overreactions by holding off Kent State Friday night in a tale of two halves. Xavier led, 37-28, at the intermission in a first-half performance that − despite a slow night offensively − looked like how a Big East team should handle a mid-major opponent.
More: Xavier wraps up exhibition play at 3-0. Why it matters.
The second half was a different story as Kent State took the lead on two occasions before a 10-4 Xavier run provided enough cushion for the Musketeers to complete a 3-0 month of exhibition play.
What was the difference?
"There was a moment in the second half with a little bit of selfish basketball, a little bit of effort lapses... I thought it was great for our guys to see," Pitino said. "There was a little moment in the second half where we were playing the wrong way. We corrected it, learned from it and pulled away."
There's not one category on the box score one could point at to show Xavier's selfishness. The Musketeers did score 22 points in the paint in the first half but relied heavily on the 3-point shot (32 attempts). Xavier got four 3-pointers each from Jovan Milicevic and Ruben Dominguez, including some timely triples down the stretch. Xavier's starters combined for 61 points and 29 rebounds. Point guard Tru Washington and center Mike Nwoko were also in double figures while Filip Borovicanin flirted with a triple-double (8 points, 10 assists, 9 rebounds).
On the glass, Xavier was outrebounded, 42-37, and gave up 12 second-chance opportunities. Kent State had a pair of 9-0 spurts in the first 12 minutes of the second half. The first tied the game at 37-37 immediately out of the locker room, the second gave the Golden Flashes their largest lead of the night (56-52) with 8:01 remaining.
"They're exhibition games. I thought there were a lot of positives," Pitino said. "I thought today was really, really good. It revealed how, when we don't play the right way, how bad we make ourselves look."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Pitino says 'selfish basketball' led to Xavier's 2nd-half struggles