Dogs ability to nail their early and late draft picks, as wel

CINCINNATI -- With less weight and more quickness, guard Trevon Bluiett is turning into an all-around scorer at the heart of Xaviers offense.Bluiett scored 15 of his 23 points during Xaviers dominant first half, and the seventh-ranked Musketeers remained unbeaten with an 85-55 victory over North Dakota State on Tuesday night.The Musketeers (7-0) opened with a decisive run for the second straight game. Bluiett hit the biggest shots and finished with seven assists and five rebounds. He dropped his weight from 217 to 194 pounds in the offseason to improve his quickness.Im trying not to rely on the 3-ball too much, said Bluiett, who went 3 of 8 from beyond the arc. Live by the 3, die by the 3, and I tried to change that philosophy. Losing weight kind of helped that, too. Ive been able to incorporate things into my game.Sean OMara added 12 points and five rebounds, and Malcolm Bernard had 10 points and eight rebounds.Xavier got up 30-10 during a 64-42 win over Northern Iowa on Saturday, giving up only 12 points in the first half -- the fewest it has allowed in any half since the shot clock was introduced for the 1985-86 season. Against North Dakota State (5-3) , the Musketeers opened with a 30-11 run and were never challenged.The Musketeers finished with 23 assists on 31 field goals.I thought the offense flowed well, we shared the ball a lot, Bernard said. I love the way we played on offense. I thought it was fun, it was exciting.Redshirt freshman Deng Geu scored a career-high 18 for the Bison, who trailed by as many as 36 points. Nobody else scored more than nine.Deng is only eight games into his varsity career, coach David Richman said. He has oodles and oodles of potential, but hes struggled with his confidence. It was good for him to hit that first 3. I thought he played better after that.POLL IMPLICATIONSXavier moved up two spots in this weeks poll to No. 7, where it started the season. The Musketeers have a chance to make their case for another jump with a game at No. 9 Baylor on Saturday.BIG PICTURENorth Dakota State: The Bison are 3-11 against ranked teams, with the wins over No. 13 Wisconsin in 2005-06, No. 9 Marquette in 2006-07, and No. 20 Oklahoma during the 2014 NCAA tournament.Xavier: Sophomore forward Kaiser Gates moved much better in his second game back from surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee. He scored six points and had two rebounds in 14 minutes. Against Northern Iowa, Gates played 11 minutes, missed his only shot and picked up three fouls.His (conditioning) is probably the thing thats going to keep him back from playing more right now, its not his knee, coach Chris Mack said . We just feel like hes building toward being a full-time contributor. He took a better step tonight, a lot better step than against Northern Iowa.FAST STARTSXavier won its first 12 games last year and its first eight games in 2011, the Musketeers best starts during Macks eight seasons.QUIET SUMNERXavier point guard Edmond Sumner played only 12 minutes in the first half and didnt take a shot. He finished with five points and seven assists in 23 minutes, by far his season low.NO 3s ... OR ANYTHING ELSENorth Dakota States A.J. Jacobson was 14 of 18 on 3-points shots heading into the game, so Xavier locked in on him. Jacobson missed both of his shots and failed to score.UP NEXTNorth Dakota State plays at North Carolina A&T on Friday, ending a three-game road swing.Xavier has lost both its games against Baylor -- 69-64 during Macks first season as coach in 2009-10, and 75-70 in the third round of the 2012 NCAA tournament.---More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org Vapormax Off White Solde . - Goaltender Philippe Desrosiers of the Rimouski Oceanic has broken a shutout record that was only three months old in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Vapormax Homme Pas Cher . -- The Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake played to a 0-0 tie Saturday night that left the top of the Western Conference standings unchanged. http://www.vapormaxsolde.fr/basket-vapormax-plus-grossiste.html . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season. Faux Vapormax Pas Cher . Soukalova missed only one target and completed the 15-kilometre course in 40 minutes, 32.6 seconds for both victories in this seasons individual discipline. Darya Domracheva of Belarus was second, 34. Vapormax Pas Cher . LOUIS -- Valtteri Filppula assisted on three of Tampa Bays four goals, and the Lightning beat the St. And then there were four.No Hawthorn, no West Coast, no Fremantle, no North Melbourne. For the first time since 2007, all four preliminary finalists are different from the previous year. But while the cards have fallen differently in 2016, there is still an enormous amount of intrigue ahead of the AFLs penultimate week of the season.This years two preliminary finals -- while both tantalising for spectators -- could not be more contrasting.Geelong vs. SydneySydney and Geelong will both feel the pressure for various reasons when they take to the MCG on Friday night. One of these 21st century powerhouses will again fail to secure a place on the AFLs grandest stage in what will likely be labelled another failed year.The Cats aggressive off-season recruitment means the spotlight will be shining brightly on Chris Scott and the clubs brains trust. The high-profile and much acclaimed acquisition of superstar onballer Patrick Dangerfield has bolstered their midfield stocks enormously, but after paying so much to lure him away from the Crows -- not to mention the additions of Zac Smith, Lachie Henderson and Scott Selwood -- success will be expected sooner rather than later.Without question, the Cats loaded up for another premiership on the back of their incredible era of success in the noughties, and anything less will be deemed a failure.If they crash out this weekend, questions will abound.What do they do with ageing superstars Corey Enright, Tom Lonergan, Jimmy Bartel, Andrew Mackie and Harry Taylor, who are all over 30?Do they have enough young talent on their list? The Cats do have some promising youngsters, but not to the same degree as many of their rivals. To make matters worse, their first pick in the 2016 draft is a lowly No. 38. Master recruiting manager Stephen Wells will have to work his magic, yet again, to ensure the Cats dont drop away.Even the most optimistic Cats fan would acknowledge they must strike now to justify their all in approach during the last player exchange period.The Swans, meanwhile, are also under pressure on myriad fronts. Injuries to key personnel have come at the worst possible time, while they also have to travel to the MCG -- admittedly, a happy hunting ground for them -- for the preliminary final off the back of a six-day break.However, their decision almost three years ago to sign Lance Franklin on a $10m, nine-year deal once again has the spotlight firmly fixed on the Harbour City club.Rightly or wrongly, the Swans are viewed as needing to justify Franklins staggering contract with silverware, and a loss to Geelong will mean three seasons have come and gone without any since the former Hawk made the move north.Franklin missed last years finals campaign with mental health isssues, but hes back and in arguably career-best form this season and could almost single-handedly lead his team towards premiership glory.dddddddddddd But if not, watch the cynics line up to state -- with Franklin only a few months away from hitting a footballers dreaded age of 30 -- that time is running out to strike during the Buddy era.GWS vs. Western BulldogsThe second preliminary final could not be more different.Its too much to claim Saturdays clash at Spotless Stadium is a free hit for the Bulldogs and Giants, but both clubs are under far less pressure than the two teams that will be do battle at the MCG a day earlier.Why?Because both clubs have arrived earlier than expected.Many football experts and fans would have predicted these two sides, particularly the Giants, had the ability to challenge for the premiership over the next two, four or even eight years. So if they fall one or two hurdles short this season, all would not be lost as they should be set for a sustained period of success.Looking at GWS, its perhaps no surprise they are only two wins away from a first premiership trophy.The Giants list is the envy of the competition. Having feasted on 17 top-10 draft picks since 2011 -- the next most in that time is Melbourne with six, while four clubs (the Hawks, Crows, Dockers and Eagles) havent had a single top-10 pick during the same timeframe -- they were always going to rocket up the ladder and smash through the premiership window at some stage. To be on the brink of a premiership in their maiden finals campaign shows just why their rival clubs are worried about an imminent period of domination.The Dogs ability to nail their early and late draft picks, as well as rookie selections, in the past few years also has them set up to be a long-term contender.Under Luke Beveridge, the Bulldogs are tough, hungry and, perhaps most importantly, young. The side that stunned Hawthorn only had a combined 1,899 matches of experience -- exactly 1,500 less than the finals-hardened Hawks.The Dogs are also resilient. The Bulldogs have somehow overcome a seemingly endless amount of injuries, defying enormous adversity throughout the season. For a young side to make the top four after being without their inspirational captain for almost the entire year is testament to Luke Beveridge and the playing group.Whether they win or lose on Saturday, the future is still blindingly bright at Whitten Oval.Extreme pressure is a constant companion during any final. But the pressure gauge is likely to be cranked up an extra notch or two when the Swans and Cats clash for a place in the grand final. ' ' '