Monmouth earning respect
Robinson stole show at Disney tournament
LAKE BUENA VISTA — Xavier rolled through the AdvoCare Invitational in impressive fashion this week, especially Sunday night in blowing out state rival Dayton 90-61 in the championship game.
The talk of the tourney, however, was Justin Robinson. All 5-foot-8, 175 pounds of him stole the show this weekend at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports.
The little Monmouth University guard ran circles around three different teams during the annual Thanksgiving event, and even though the Hawks fell one victory shy of getting into the championship game, Robinson was still the tournament darling.
He broke the overall tournament scoring record, which was set by Kansas State’s Michael Beasley in 2007, by tallying 77 points, posting a career-high 28 twice – including in a loss to Dayton in Friday night’s semifinal.
Robinson had 27 Sunday to lead Monmouth to an 83-73 third-place victory over Southern Cal, avenging a 101-90 loss to USC earlier this month in Los Angeles.
“It’s great for me to watch this young man, who not many people wanted to recruit,” Rice said. “A lot of people told me I was making a mistake, and now he’s better than all of those guys that everybody ranked in front of him.”
Robinson, a junior from Lake Katrine (N.Y.) Kingston High, who was only recruited by one other school (Binghamton), isn’t even playing his best, yet, says Rice.
“Probably because he was a shorter player, people didn’t give him a chance,” Rice said. “Now he’s going to continue to get better, and here’s the thing: He can still play better.” It was somewhat of a name-making weekend for Monmouth, putting the Hawks on the basketball map, even if just for a few days, after upsets of USC and Notre Dame.
“People are starting to pronounce our school name right, so that’s pretty cool. We’re no Mammoth anymore, or Mawn Mouth,” Robinson said. “Just to come out here and get the recognition that we worked for all summer and last spring is pretty good, but we can’t let it get to our heads and understand we haven’t accomplished anything yet.”
TITLE GAME: XAVIER 90, DAYTON 61: The Musketeers were ramped up for the battle with their former Atlantic 10 rival as they played their best game of the three-game tourney.
Xavier’s athleticism was on display in impressive fashion as they dismantled the Flyers in every aspect. Dayton could not find an answer to the onslaught and each run for the Muskies added to the deficit that reached 33 points near the end of the game.
The biggest lick came on a 21-0 run that gave Xavier a 68-37 lead with 12:12 remaining and from that point it was going to be difficult for any Dayton rally.
“Our team was really excited to play in the championship,” Xavier coach Chris Mack said. “It’s been a long time coming to be in a championship. None of the guys had been in one.”
SEVENTH PLACE: IOWA 84, WICHITA STATE 62: The Hawkeyes were led by Jarrod Uthoff’s 22 points, but the biggest news from this game was about the player who didn’t play.
WSU senior forward Anton Grady collapsed on the floor Friday after a collision with an Alabama player and was taken to the hospital. He was alert and speaking, but was unable to move his arms or legs. His diagnosis after tests on Friday night was a spinal concussion.
Grady was set to be released on Sunday and was going to travel back to Kansas with the team. He was up and moving around on crutches Sunday morning. He still has plenty of work to do and a return to the basketball court isn’t even part of his timetable as he works back to being healthy, but he is expected to make a full recovery.
FIFTH PLACE: ALABAMA 74, NO. 17 NOTRE DAME 73: Retin Obasohan scored the game-winning layup with eight seconds left, lifting the Tide to an upset of the Irish.
Notre Dame’s Demetris Jackson had a chance to win the game, but he missed a layup with two seconds remaining.