Pirate Galaxy » one goal, Northumbria clinching vi

WACO, Texas -- For once, the beginning of basketball season brought with it a welcome change deep in the heart of Texas.While Baylors football program is stuck in a quagmire of scandal off the field and a five-game losing streak on the field, the Bears basketball team ascended from unranked to No. 9 in the Associated Press poll this week.Baylor already defeated then-fourth-ranked Oregon at home this went to the Battle 4 Atlantis to pull off an impressive string of victories over VCU, Michigan State and Louisville.All of that serves as context as No. 7 Xavier comes into the Ferrell Center on Saturday afternoon for a top-10 nonconference hoops matchup that will draw the eyes of the college basketball nation.Baylor (7-0) tips off at the same time as its football team kicks off on the road at West Virginia, but that coincidence wasnt even mentioned in Bears coach Scott Drews pregame press conference on Friday.Instead, Drew spoke about how fortunate his program is to have two top-10 nonconference opponents come into Baylors arena in the same season. Before this year, Baylor played only two top-10 nonconference opponents at home in its history.The chance of having two top-10 home games in nonconference, youve got a better chance of hitting the lottery, Drew said. Its a great opportunity for us to play at home against a real quality opponent. For both teams, your RPI is not going to go down if you lose and, if you win, its a great gain.Like Baylor, Xavier (7-0) is undefeated against a slate of quality opponents. Unlike Baylor, the Musketeers havent faced a team with a national ranking attached to it yet this season.Xavier defeated Missouri, Clemson and Northern Iowa twice during a stretch of four games last month.Now the Musketeers play their first game on an opponents home floor this season -- all seven of Xaviers previous contests were either at home in Cincinnati or at the Tire Pros Invitational in Orlando -- as well as their first ranked foe.Xavier coach Chris Mack knows his team will be fully focused on Baylor.Theres so much respect for the type of program that Baylors had for several years, Mack said. (Our players) saw what they did down in the Bahamas. Theres no trick, theres no science for getting our guys up for the game.With hype and motivation equal on both sides, the game could come down to whether or not Xavier can hit shots against Baylors treacherous zone defense. The Bears deploy 7-foot forward Jo Lual-Acuil and 6-10 forward Johnathan Motley in the interior. And Mack said everyone in the Bears 1-3-1 zone knows his responsibility to limit open looks.Were going to have to find soft spots in the zone and were going to have to make some shots, obviously, and then were going to have to try to rebound and get second opportunities, Mack said. Baylor makes it tough. Theyre big and they put that 7-footer under the rim. Its a challenge but we wouldnt have it any other way.The Musketeers will try to attack the zone and crash the boards with a quartet of tall guards and 6-10 center Sean OMara.Drew seemed to be just as concerned about stopping Xaviers lineup on the offensive end as Mack was about combatting the Baylor zone.We havent faced a team with as much height across the board, basically a team of four guards at 6-6, athletic, can shoot it, post it, drive it, Drew said. With that, it also makes it difficult to defend because, with a lot of shooters, you never know which one is going to be hot that day. Its easy to see why theyre such a good team.Kevin Newman Jersey . Takahashi, who had a 10-point lead after the short program, received 268.31 points after the free skate to finish 15 points ahead of second-place Nobunari Oda. Kevin Kramer Jersey . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p. https://www.cheappiratesjerseys.us/342e-dale-berra-jersey-pirates.html . -- Ryan Blaney provided more evidence that Penske Racings No. Trevor Williams Jersey . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Dick Groat Jersey . -- Mike Smith never saw his first NHL goal go in.Loughborough Lightning host Team Northumbria in Mondays latest Vitality Superleague clash, live on Sky Sports 3 from 7.30pm.With just two rounds of the regular season remaining, both teams are out of contention for a top-four place. Northumbrias hopes ended long ago, while a combination of results on Saturday ended Lightnings ambitions.Loughboroughs crucial double-header began on Saturday with a 10-goal defeat against Manchester Thunder and coupled with Team Baths victory over Team Northumbria, Karen Atkinsons side cannot now overcome the nine-point gap. Lightning end their season with two home games and will look to finish on a high note after the disappointment of Saturday evening in Manchester. Lynsey Armitage will be the main threat for Team Northumbria under the posts But Team Northumbria will provide strong opposition, having picked up three victories of their own this campaign despite being tipped to struggle by many at the start of the season.ddddddddddddLightning will be looking to avenge defeat from their trip to Newcastle earlier in the season, where they slipped to defeat by just one goal, Northumbria clinching victory in the last few seconds. Loughborough Lightnings Rachel Sweet in action Lightning head coach Atkinson said: Im really looking forward to playing at home in front of the Sky cameras on Monday, where we can hopefully reverse the result of our away loss to Northumbria.Watch Northumbrias trip to Loughborough on Monday from 7.30pm on Sky Sports 3 HD.By purchasing a Sky Sports Day Pass for £6.99 or Sky Sports Week Pass for £10.99, you can enjoy access to all seven Sky Sports channels and watch on a TV with a NOW TV Box or on a range of devices.Also See:Vitality Superleague fixturesTableLive on SkySportswomen ' ' '