NEW YORK – When Xavier head coach Travis Steele met with the media on Monday in advance of Wednesday's first-round game in the Big East Conference Tournament, he said, "People remember how you finish."
Those words carry a lot more weight today, one day after the Musketeers suffered a final-minute collapse, squandering a 66-60 lead with 52 seconds left only to lose in overtime to Butler at Madison Square Garden.
That final minute of regulation was a microcosm for the final month of Xavier's season – mental mistakes and a lack of execution – and in its wake, it's created turbulence with the Musketeers looking at a fourth straight season on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.