Xavier falls short sans center Myles

? Xavier made up for the loss of center Anthony Myles for more than nine minutes. When it counted most, however, his absence was glaring.

Without Myles in the paint after he fouled out, the Musketeers twice gave up offensive rebounds to Duke in the final three minutes. The Blue Devils converted those opportunities to pull ahead and beat Xavier, 66-63, Sunday to advance to the Final Four.

“We just couldn’t get the rebounds when we needed to,” forward Justin Cage said. “That’s what it came down to.”

The score was tied at 56 with about three minutes left in the Atlanta Regional final when Duke’s Chris Duhon drove to the basket. His shot bounced off the rim, but Luol Deng grabbed the rebound. He passed to J.J. Redick, who gave the Blue Devils (31-5) the lead for good with a three-pointer.

After Dedrick Finn’s shot was blocked on the other end, Duhon again missed a layup, and Deng tipped in the miss for a five-point lead.

That effectively ended the game.

“They were in the right place at the right time,” Cage said.

The seventh-seeded Musketeers (26-11), in an NCAA regional final for the first time, led for a good portion of the second half, even without Myles, a 6-foot-9 senior. He helped get Shelden Williams, Deng and Shavlik Randolph in foul trouble before he left, finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Randolph fouled out, and Williams and Deng each finished with four fouls.

“We watched him on tape, and we knew he was good,” Randolph said. “His footwork was a lot better that I expected. I sure was glad to see him foul out.”

Myles played only 23 minutes and was gone long before this one was decided. He picked up his third foul two minutes into the second half and went to the bench for a short time.

When he returned, he gave Xavier the lead at 40-39 with two free throws, then got credit for a tip-in 3:30 later when Williams actually batted in the ball. On the other end, Williams helped make up for his mistake.

He drew a foul on Myles away from the ball — two big men simply battling for position on the blocks — and, before Musketeers coach Thad Matta could replace Myles, the ball was back in play.

“I knew I had four,” Myles said. “I was just trying to play straight up until I was going out of the game.”

Redick missed a three, and in the fight for the rebound, Myles was called for pushing Williams. Two fouls in six seconds, and he was done, amid a chorus of boos from the Xavier faithful and an argument from Matta.

“I don’t remember fouling him for the fifth one,” Myles said. “We were both just going for the ball.”

Myles trudged back to the bench, slumped in a chair and put a towel over his head. He hardly could be consoled.