Pirate Galaxy » considers how well a team played wi

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The play J.P. Macura made with 1.7 seconds left wont show up in any boxscore, and certainly wont appear in any highlight video.But it helped No. 11 Xavier escape and remain unbeaten.Edmond Sumners free throw with 0.3 seconds left in overtime gave the Musketeers an 83-82 win over Missouri in the opening round of the Tire Pros Invitational on Thursday. He was fouled after Xavier inbounded near midcourt, after a heady timeout that Macura called to give his team a chance to set something up at the end.He understands time and score and puts himself in positions to make hustle plays and plays that determine the outcome of a game, Xavier coach Chris Mack said. It doesnt surprise me that he had presence of mind to call timeout that quickly.Sumner was fouled by Missouris Terrence Phillips as both went for the ball along the sideline on the deciding play. He missed the first one short, then rattled in the second for the win.I decided to call timeout because I didnt want us to just fire up a halfcourt shot, Macura said. I thought wed have better chances of making a shot if we got a timeout.He was right, and the Musketeers -- who won a tournament at the Disney complex last year -- are now in the semifinals of this event. Sumner and Macura each scored 19 points for Xavier, which got 13 apiece from Trevon Bluiett and Sean OMara.Frankie Hughes scored 24 points for Missouri (1-1), and Kevin Puryear finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Phillips scored seven of his 21 points in overtime for Missouri, which never got off a desperation shot after Sumners deciding free throw.I think he was just being aggressive, Missouri coach Kim Anderson said. Im sure hed love to take it back, but you know what? He made a lot of great plays to get us to where we were, so if it wasnt for that it wouldnt come down to that play.Missouri led by 10 in the first half and held the lead most of the second half, but needed to scramble both late in regulation and then from an early five-point deficit in overtime. Missouri went on a 7-0 run late to grab the lead, but Macura made two free throws with 17.8 seconds remaining to tie the game for the 15th and final time.A great basketball game, first of all, Anderson said. I thought our guys did a lot of great things and played one of the top 10 or 15 teams in the country toe-to-toe.BIG PICTUREXavier: It was the second time in three games that the Musketeers were put to the test -- they beat Lehigh 84-81 to open the season last week. ... Xavier missed its last 12 3-pointers, shooting 2 for 22 in the game from long range.Missouri: Hughes is averaging 23.5 points after two games. Only 10 Missouri players have managed to go their entire freshman season averaging more than 10 points. ... The Tigers were outrebounded 52-39.HELLO, AGAINThis is the third straight season that Xavier and Missouri have played.Xavier won 74-58 at Missouri on Dec. 13, 2014, in the start of what was going to be a two-game series, and prevailed again at home 78-66 exactly one year before this meeting -- Nov. 17, 2015.Missouri will be in that position with another non-conference foe later this season, when it meets Arizona for the third consecutive year.UP NEXTXavier: Faces Clemson in the tournament semifinals Friday.Missouri: Faces Davidson in the consolation semifinals Friday.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25Cheap Air Max 90 China . -- San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks was fined $15,570 by the NFL on Wednesday for his hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees last Sunday. Fake Air Max 2019 . -- Cam Newton pranced into the end zone, placed his hands over his chest and did his familiar Superman pose. http://www.airmaxsneakersonsale.com/cheap-air-max-classic-bw.html . The Clippers were angry about blowing a big lead; the Kings didnt like being in that kind of hole and nearly digging themselves out only to lose. Wholesale Air Max 270 .J. Ellis hit two-run homers and the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 4-0 Saturday night. Cheap Air Max 97 Black .com) - Christian Ponder will get another chance to prove himself for the Minnesota Vikings, with head coach Leslie Frazier announcing Wednesday that the struggling quarterback will start this weekends game against the Green Bay Packers.This is the time of year when teams fighting for spots in the College Football Playoff might be tempted to run up big margins in hopes of impressing the selection committee.Whether that strategy actually makes a difference is up for debate.Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt, who chairs the College Football Playoff committee, says the committee doesnt take margin of victory into account.We talk about how that team has performed each and every week, Hocutt said. We talk about `Was that a convincing win? ... I believe, in certain games a convincing win can be a 14-0 score, and in other games it can be a 35-7 score. I think in the game of college football, a convincing win can vary. But in no way do we incent margin of victory.Yet that didnt stop Louisville coach Bobby Petrino from bringing up margin of victory recently when he complained about his teams position in the rankings. Maybe I made a mistake, looking back at it, he said. (Against) Florida State, we shouldve kept all the starters in and scored 80 points and done that.Louisville beat Florida State 63-20 on Sept. 17, though the Cardinals playoff hopes suffered a major blow Thursday night when they fell 36-10 at Houston.Of course, scoring 80 against Florida State technically shouldnt have mattered to the committee if it isnt taking margin of victory into account. But how do the committee members not pay attention to the actual scores of games?I think they do to some degree, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. Thats probably the best way to say it. I think they take all of it into consideration. But its a very bright group that, in some cases, it probably doesnt matter too much to them, and in some cases it does.Jeff Sagarin, who has his own rating system to rank teams, says common sense shows that the playoff committee does factor in the scores of each game. Sagarin cited the 2014 season, when eventual national champion Ohio State leapfrogged TCU to earn the fourth playoff spot after trouncing Wisconsin 59-0 in the Big Ten championship game.Their problem is if they ever verbalize, `Oh, we look at scores, then people will castigate them for encouraging teams to run up the score, so they have to pretend they dont, Sagarin said.Sagarin says his own ratings are based on who did you play, where did you play and what was the score. His rankings at the start of this week were virtually identical to the CFP rankings, with one notable exception.The CFP rankings had Clemson fourth and Louisville fifth, while Sagarins ratings reversed the order of those two Atlantic Coast Conference teams. Those rankings were done before Louisvilles loss to Houston. Both the CFP and Sagarin had Alabaama first, Ohio State second, Michigan third and Washington sixth.ddddddddddddYou get better accuracy predicting future games when you use the score, Sagarin said. Thats all I can say about it. If people want to ignore the scores, thats their business, but the committee, I dont think they do (ignore the scores).Alabama coach Nick Saban, whose team has appeared in each of the first two playoffs, says he doesnt believe margin of victory should be factored into the CFP rankings.I dont think that beating another team by an embarrassing score really should be something that (should be rewarded) from a sportsmanship standpoint or a common respect standpoint for the other team and their players and their families, Saban said. Thats not really something that should be a part of the game.But Hocutt acknowledged the committee discusses what constitutes a convincing win. How often has the eye test come up as a way to judge a team during the playoff era? Sagarin notes the frequent references to style points.Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher recalls the example of his 2014 team that went undefeated in the regular season but only earned a No. 3 seed in the playoff behind Alabama and Oregon, who had each lost a game. Florida State played several close games that year, and committee members often referred to the Seminoles lack of game control without specifically mentioning scores.We were undefeated, hadnt lost in two years, but game control, Fisher said this week. I havent heard `game control anymore. Did that one go out of the equation?Ohio State coach Urban Meyer says he doesnt mind a scenario in which the committee considers how well a team played without specifically analyzing the victory margin. Meyer was concerned that if the victory margin becomes an ultimate measuring stick, teams might start acting ...I guess the term is very unsportsmanlike.Im hoping the committee -- I have great confidence there -- just looks at the body of work, the strength of schedule and how they played, Meyer said.The dilemma in that approach is determining how a team played without considering victory margin. That backs up Sagarins notion that scores are taken into consideration, whether or not the committee says so.Its not something evil, Sagarin said. Scores reflect what happened in the game. Thats all.---AP Sports Writers Cliff Brunt, Joe Reedy and John Zenor contributed to this report.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25---Follow Steve Megargee at www.twitter.com/stevemegargee ' ' '