CHICAGO -- All it took was a couple of back door cuts to put finally put Kent St away for good. Once Kent State went into desperation press mode, Xavier was able to get easy looks at the basket and finished off a 78-65 win. The Musketeers will play the winner of the Indiana vs. Illinois State game tomorrow night.

I'll be back with stats if I'm allowed to have any. Stat reporting has been pretty spotty on press row.

Late in the game, Stanley Burrell came running into our table on press row and messed up one of the seating assignment signs. Burrell cleaned up after himself though. He made sure to straighten it out before he went back onto the floor.

Someone call maintenance to replace the net at our end of the floor between games. Play has been stopped four times just since I got here because it keeps getting caught up on the rim after the ball goes through.

For our between game entertainment, we get "Ice, Ice, Baby" over the PA. That's appropriate, because it's freezing in here.