Inside-outside game allows Xavier to pull away for 59-44 win over Jefferson

CEDAR RAPIDS — There have been times when Cedar Rapids Xavier strictly has been an outside basketball team. Hoist a 3-pointer, then another, then another.

The Saints took 48 shots in a loss last week to Cedar Rapids Kennedy, with a whopping 32 of them from beyond the arc. That's an over reliance on the long jumper.

It wasn't that Xavier forgot about the trey Friday night in a 59-44 win at Cedar Rapids Jefferson. It was just that it became much more inside-outside, a philosophy that worked great.

'That was a point of emphasis tonight, to get inside touches,' said Xavier Coach Ryan Luehrsmann. 'Get touches for (Max) Techau and (Ryan) Stulken, or guards getting inside penetration. Get a piece of the paint. That was part of the game plan, and that'll be a part of the game plan going forward.'

Techau, in particular, was unstoppable inside at times with spin moves and a neat little jump hook. The 6-foot-7 junior center had 23 points, 10 rebounds and blocked or altered numerous shots defensively.

The transfer from Cedar Rapids Kennedy missed Xavier's first two games with an ankle injury, but he's obviously healthy now.

'Came down on someone's foot,' Techau said. 'That kind of sucked. Had to miss the first two games and everything. My ankle was really swollen there. But the trainers did a great job, and now I'm back to normal.' 'I thought Max was excellent in there,' Luehrsmann said. 'He was patient, I thought he picked his spots well and finished through contact. I couldn't be more happy with how he played.'

Xavier (4-1, 2-1 Mississippi Valley Conference) led after each quarter, but it was never by much. A much improved Jefferson team was within three points with seven minutes to go, but couldn't seem to figure out a 3-2 zone defense the Saints turned to, a rash of turnovers and empty possessions allowing Xavier to pull away.

'We just started to play defense,' Techau said. 'Get turnovers, get stops. We wanted to get a lot of stops in a row because we knew that we could score. That was the main thing. We just started playing defense and rebounding.'

Jefferson (2-5, 0-3) already has surpassed its win total of a season ago (1) and has come close in three other games, including this one.

'That's what's tough,' said second-year Coach Brandon Horman. 'That's the tough part of all this right now. We play so well for long stretches, we battle and battle and battle. It happened Tuesday night against Waterloo West, against Clinton in our first game. It gets down to the fourth quarter, and we revert back to old bad habits. It's kind of a confidence thing, but it's not a confidence thing, as far as us coaches are concerned.

'We haven't been able to shoot the ball the best, but we've got good shooters. We've got good defenders, we've got good kids, good players. It's just a matter of finishing things out.'

Jackson Joens was Xavier's only other double-figure scorer, with 10 points. Royshawn Webb led Jefferson with 10 points.

Luehrsmann had a long postgame meeting with his team after last Friday's Kennedy game, and it has responded with two solid wins.

'Just coming out in big moments and playing composed,' he said. 'Taking care of the ball, not being rushed and taking bad shots. That was a good lesson we learned from Kennedy, because they do a great job of speeding you up. We fell victim to that. It was a good lesson to learn, and I just hope we continue with the patience we showed.'

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AT C.R. JEFFERSON C.R. XAVIER (59): Ryan Stulen 2-5 3-3 7, Jackson Joens 4-5 0-0 10, Max Techau 9-16 3-4 23, Mitch Burger 1-7 0-0 2, Matt Mims 4-7 1-1 9, Nolan Butkowski 2-5 2-2 8, Bryce Schulte 0-0 0-0 0, Reese Houtakker 0-2 0-0 0, Max Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Blake Whitten 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-50 10-11 59.

C.R. JEFFERSON (44): Valentino Green 3-6 1-4 7, Adam Van Oort 3-15 0-2 7, Dennis McKinney 2-3 0-0 4, Grant Wiederin 1-1 0-0 3, Royshawn Webb 5-7 0-0 10, James Brown Jr. 3-6 3-4 9, Kane Kramer 1-5 0-0 2, Zachariah Szabo 1-3 0-0 2, Zachary Larsen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-46 4-10 44.

Halftime — Xavier 26, Jefferson 23. 3-point goals — Xavier 5-16 (Joens 2-2, Stulken 0-2, Techau 1-1, Burger 0-3, Mims 0-2, Butkowski 2-5, Houtakker 0-1), Jefferson 2-10 (Van Oort 1-6, Wiederin 1-1, Kramer 0-2, Szabo 0-1). Rebounds — Xavier 24 (Techau 9), Jefferson 33 (Van Oort 9). Total fouls — Xavier 10, Jefferson 15. Fouled out — None. Turnovers — Xavier 10, Jefferson 16.

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