Musketeers Beat: Riled up Georgetown Coach Ed Cooley Explains Why Xavier Has A True Gem in Sean Miller

CINCINNATI — Just minutes after getting into a heated shouting match with a fan behind the basket in the closing moments of Xavier’s 74-69 win Tuesday night at Cintas Center, Georgetown head coach Ed Cooley paid the highest compliment possible to Xavier coach Sean Miller.

Cooley and Miller coached together on USA Basketball in 2015 when the pair worked was assistants to Billy Donovan, who was head coach of the U19 team. That team ended up with a perfect 7–0 record and a gold medal. Miller was subsequently named the co-national coach of the year by USA basketball.

“I hope you guys know the level of coach you have in Sean right?” Cooley asked rhetorically. “Really, really hard to prepare for. His kids play really hard. His kids are disciplined, right? I’m a big fan of Sean Miller.

“We’ve been doing this for a long time. I mean, obviously, we’re very, very close. We coached events together and USA Basketball. They definitely made a couple adjustments and (adjustments) were made on both benches.”

Despite getting into it with a booster that was giving it to Georgetown guard Micah Peavy, Cooley clearly had nothing personal against Miller and the Xavier program, paying them their props time and time again in his postgame press conference. His only beef was with the fan that was berating Peavy in the wake of his 27-point virtuoso against the Muskies. Peavy was giving lip back to the fan as the final shot was being taken Tuesday.

Cooley came over and shouted at the fan and later addressed the incident in a statement.

“In tonight’s game, an opposing team’s fan was verbally attacking one of my players. While nothing physical happened, I will always protect my players if they are threatened. I have nothing but respect for Xavier and its fanbase, and I want to congratulate the Musketeers on the win. I’m proud of how hard our players fought, and now we look to the next game this Saturday as we host Seton Hall back at home.”

As for the game itself, Xavier was the team shouting loudest at the end thanks to Marcus Foster and Dailyn Swain. Foster posted his first double-double of the season, with 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Swain added a career-best 18 to lead Xavier back to .500 in Big East play at 6-6.

Foster’s 3-pointer with 1:20 remaining stopped a six-point run by Georgetown and helped put seal the win for the Musketeers. Foster and Swain might be the keys for the Xavier in the final eight games before the Big East tournament. They are the pieces the Musketeers need in addition to leading scorers Zach Freemantle and Ryan Conwell. Swain, especially, has come alive in the last five games, which not coincidentally according to Sean Miller have marked Xavier’s best basketball of the season.

“My teammates always got my back, so whatever adjustment I need to make, I know they’re going to do it,” Swain said. “Like, if I come off and I’m looking at the roller, like Zach (Freemantle) or something like that, where I tell them to set the screen so they can’t go under they’ll do it.”

Swain has been in double-digit scoring in all five games, averaging 15 points in the stretch against Marquette, St. John’s, Creighton and UConn. In other words, Swain is playing his best against the best.

“We have to put him in a position more often to be the playmaker and to have the ball in his hands,” Miller said. “He’s making too many good decisions and too many good plays. By the way, he gets fouled, he makes free throws. And his assists, his ability to see. He’s taller, so he can find different players on our team. And so, when you talk about keeping your level of play improving, it one of the things that we’re trying to be aware of … I think the more we can involve him on offense, I think the better team that we have a chance to become. He’s playing, and he has been playing at very, very high level. It’s been fun to watch his development.”

Dante Maddox Jr. hit a desperation three as the shot clock was expiring with just over four minutes remaining and then hit another on the next possession to help Xavier hold off a late charge from the Hoyas.

Zach Freemantle added 17 for Xavier (14-9, 6-6), which shot 51 percent from the field and earned a split of the season series, avenging a 69-63 loss at Georgetown on Jan. 3. The Musketeers continued their home dominance of the Hoyas, winning for the 12th time in 13 meetings in Cincinnati.

Xavier has eight games remaining and a golden opportunity this Sunday to make a Super statement with a Quad 1 win at Villanova. Xavier must sustain their excellent level of play for the final five weeks to make the games in March meaningful.

“I don’t think we played great,” Miller told me after the win Tuesday. “We played well enough to win. We had great moments, but we’ve been at a very high level the last three weeks. At St John’s at Madison Square Garden, there aren’t a lot of teams going to win that game. We led for 37 minutes and weren’t able to finish. At Marquette, very difficult to win there, UConn at home, at Creighton. And I think the level of play we’ve been at now for about four weeks, clearly that’s sustainable, because we keep doing it.

“I thought there are times tonight, if we were played a little bit better, we would have maybe been at our best but we weren’t able to finish (strong). But I fully expect us to be at this level for the rest of the year, and, quite frankly, maybe hit one more level. And that’s what we’re after. We have a group that’s highly motivated. We have a great home court. We’ve played some really tough games in our conference already, and we have four home games left. We got to try to win every one.”

Micah Peavy paced Georgetown (14-9, 5-7) with 24 points while Thomas Sorber added 17. After opening the Big East season with three wins, the Hoyas (14-9, 5-7) have lost seven of nine in conference to fall into the bottom half of the conference standings.

Georgetown’s two leading scorers paced the way early, as Sorber scored 11 points and Peavy added 10 in the opening 15 minutes, accounting for 21 of their first 26 points.

Peavy’s three with 9:38 left in the half built Georgetown’s lead up to seven, 19-12. His next three ended a four-point spurt by Xavier and put Georgetown back up six, 22-16. Sorber’s mid-range jumper in the paint extended Georgetown’s lead to eight, 24-16.

But back-to-back threes from Freemantle and Conwell sparked an 8-0 Xavier run to tie the game. Conversely, Xavier continued their momentum, ending the half on a 14-2 run to take a 30-26 lead to the locker room. Xavier opened the second half with a 9-4 surge and never trailed the rest of the way.