PROVIDENCE – Coach Chris Mack was never more pleased with a basketball rules change than late in No. 7 Xavier’s 75-68 victory over No. 10 Providence at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
An NCAA change this year prohibits coaches from calling timeouts during live ball situations. Mack desperately wanted a timeout with little more than a minute left in Tuesday’s thriller, Xavier’s lead down to three, so he implored Musketeers players to call one.
Instead, sophomore J.P. Macura buried a 3-pointer that iced the victory.
“Thank heavens for the new rules. Shows what kind of coach I am.