Xavier's defense is one-size-fits-all

PHOENIX -- UCLA's Kevin Love won't be the first freshman phenom Xavier has played.

The Musketeers faced Kansas State's Michael Beasley, too.

"Somebody mentioned to me they held him to five or six points," Love said. "Hey, I think Beasley's the most talented player in the country. For him to get five or six points shows how good they can be on defense."

It was five points, to be precise -- 21 below Beasley's average -- and it was the only time he failed to reach double figures all season.

Love has been beastly lately -- 29 points and 14 rebounds against Western Kentucky -- but what Xavier did against Beasley ought to give the Bruins pause as they prepare for today's NCAA West Regional final.

The Musketeers play almost exclusively man-to-man defense, but they don't have to try to defend the 6-10, 271-pound Love with only one player.

They have 6-foot-9, 238-pound Josh Duncan, 6-foot-8, 225-pound Derrick Brown and 6-9, 255-pound Jason Love, who as far as he knows is no relation UCLA's Love.

They play tag-team man-to-man, and that means they'll have some fouls to give.

"Duncan, Love and Brown are very good interior defenders," UCLA assistant coach Donny Daniels said.

If you're looking for extenuating circumstances that could explain Beasley's statistics in Xavier's 103-77 victory over Kansas State in December, there might be a couple.

Beasley went to the bench with two early fouls, came back and picked up his third. He ended up playing 32 minutes, though, and made only one of six shots.

The other thing, well, maybe it was the shoes.

The size 17s Beasley took with him to Cincinnati were ripped, and Kansas State finally came up with an ancient pair of Air Jordans for him to wear through a Cincinnati connection.

"We were going all over the city, and nobody in Cincinnati had a pair of 17s," Kansas State Coach Frank Martin said by phone Friday.

"But I don't want to take away from them. They've got great length and size and strength, and they're experienced. They're men.

"Duncan, Brown, B.J. Raymond, C.J. Anderson, Jason Love. They've been around. They play together. They're real physical.

"With Mike, they tried to push him as far away from the rim as they could.

"When they beat us, I was very public about saying I thought they could make a deep run in the tournament.

"They'll be a tough out. I wouldn't be surprised if they made the Final Four."