Chris Mack: 'It stinks' to coach against Sean Miller
Word of a possible NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 match-up between Xavier and Arizona first started to waft through the Musketeers' post-game locker room celebration Saturday.
Xavier head coach Chris Mack was basking in the glow of a 91-66 victory over Florida State but he scowled when asked about the prospect of dueling with mentor, friend and Arizona head coach Sean Miller.
"It stinks. It really does because he means so much to me. He's taught me so much about what to do and how to be a coach," Mack said Saturday of the impending match-up. "I'd rather face somebody I don't know real well."
Miller and Mack were once teacher and student unto each other during Miller's tenure as Xavier's head coach. Mack served as his top assistant, and head-to-head meetings seem to take the form of awkward confrontations for these old friends.
Quiz: Test your knowledge of Xavier's NCAA tournament history
The two will meet Thursday in the Sweet 16 for the second time in three years. The No. 11-seeded Musketeers (23-13 overall) and second-seeded Wildcats (32-4) are scheduled to play the Thursday nightcap of a West Regional double-header in San Jose.
Mack, during a Monday press conference at Cintas Center, smiled as he expounded on the relationship he and Miller share, but he didn't seem any happier about having to face his mentor than he was after the FSU win.
"I probably talk to Sean once every week, two weeks and usually listen to him complain about his 30-4 team," Mack said jokingly.
While Xavier basketball's growth over Mack's eight-year tenure has been exponential, aspects of it still look the same as when Miller was there.
That hasn't happened by accident.
Mack gleaned much of his program's organizational structure from Miller's designs during his Xavier days.
"The list would go on and on – the stuff that I took from Sean," Mack said. "How we organize our program to how we run our recruiting to practice habits, practice plans."
Even Xavier's seemingly-frantic in-game huddles during timeouts are carefully orchestrated down to where each players sits or stands, and Mack stole that from Miller, too, he said.
Local fans will recall Miller for his highly-successful five-year head coaching tenure at Xavier.
During his stay in Cincinnati, Miller led the Musketeers to four straight NCAA Tournament berths, an Elite 8 appearance, three Atlantic 10 Conference regular season titles and an A-10 Tournament title.
Miller won 120 games and lost just 47 over his five years in the Queen City before departing. The stage Xavier provided was a springboard to the University of Arizona for Miller but he left friends and fond memories in his wake.
Miller and Mack met as peers in the 2015 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 round, six years into Mack's own tenure as a successful head man at Xavier. Miller's Wildcats won the game.
This week's meeting will be the programs' first since that March 2015 game at Staples Center in Los Angeles, and the coaches will again set aside their intimate friendship for one 40-minute spell.
Arizona is white-hot entering the game. The Wildcats have won 11 of their last 12 games and enter as regular season and Pac-12 Conference Tournament champions.
Xavier found itself when the calendar turned to March as the Musketeers have gone 4-1 in postseason games this month and 5-2 overall.
FIRST GLANCE AT THE MATCH-UP
XAVIER: 23-13, 9-9 in Big East (7th place); Big East Tournament semifinalists (lost to Creighton).
NCAA Tournament results: Defeated No. 6-seed Maryland in the first round, No. 3-seed Florida State in second round.
KEY PLAYERS
Trevon Bluiett (6-6 junior guard, 18.5 ppg), Quentin Goodin (6-4 freshman guard, 5.1 ppg), J.P. Macura (6-5 junior guard, 14.3 ppg), RaShid Gaston (6-9 senior forward, 7.6 ppg), Malcolm Bernard (6-6 forward (graduate transfer), 6.4 ppg), Tyrique Jones (6-9 freshman forward, 4.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game), Sean O'Mara (6-10 junior forward, six ppg)
ARIZONA WILDCATS: 32-4, 16-2 in Pac-12 Conference (regular season and Pac-12 Tournament champions).
NCAA Tournament results: Defeated No. 15 North Dakota in the first round, No. 7-seed St. Mary's (California) in the second round.
KEY PLAYERS: Rawle Alkins (6-5 freshman guard, 11.1 ppg), Lauri Markkanen (7-0 freshman center, 15.8 ppg), Allonzo Trier (6-5 sophomore guard, 17.1 ppg), Dusan Ristic (7-0 junior center, 10.7 ppg), Kadeem Allen (6-3 senior guard, 9.8 ppg), Chance Comanche (6-11 sophomore center, 6.3 ppg).
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THE GAME
How to watch Xavier-Arizona in NCAA Tournament
NCAA Tournament first round
No. 11-seed Xavier v. No. 2-seed Arizona
Tip-off: 10:09 p.m. Thursday, at SAP Center in San Jose (capacity 18,543)
TV/Radio: TBS/700 WLW-AM