ST. LOUIS — In the far corner of a Xavier locker room welling with shock and disbelief, senior Remy Abell rose from his seat for the first time in the aftermath of Bronson Koenig’s 3-point dart to the soul at the Scottrade Center.
Words weren’t needed. None could be said. He just shared a long embrace with graduate assistant Allen Payne and cried.
A sense of helplessness blanketed the two. The same sense of helplessness which overtook Abell as he stood only feet from a Wisconsin bench Koenig faded into to end his Musketeers career.
The irony of this moment comes in the fact that Abell served as a major reason Xavier held control of Sunday’s second-round game against Wisconsin thanks to his defense of the Badgers’ second-leading scorer.