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Previewing Xavier

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Heading into this afternoon’s contest, Xavier will look to end their current three game losing streak which started with a loss to the Friars in Providence, on January 25th. They haven’t won a game in nearly three weeks, and for a team who was expected to be the Big East’s third team into the NCAA tournament, they are certainly due for a victory.

Xavier may be due for a win, but so are the Friars as they look to rebound after a 86-76 loss to St. John’s on Tuesday night. Not only would a win today give the Friars their first quality road win of the season, but it would also give them their third victory over the RPI top 50. The Friars currently own a 2-3 record against teams ranked in the RPI top 50, with those three losses coming against UMass, Villanova and Kentucky. If either team wants to stay in the NCAA tournament conversation, a win today is vitally important. It may not be a must win for either school, but it certainly has the potential to damage confidence heading into the season’s final stretch.

The last time the two teams met, Providence defeated Xavier 81-72. Most importantly for the Friars, in that meeting, was their ability to contain Xavier star, Semaj Christon. In the game’s first 20 minutes, Christon was held to just two points. He wound up with 18 by night’s end, but keeping him away from the basket in the first half, was definitely an accomplishment. As pointed out by Kevin Farrahar in our last PC Xavier preview, Christon shoots a ridiculous 67% from the floor but he managed to shoot just 5-14 from the field against the Friars. Most of his 16 second half points came as a result of free throws, sparked by full court pressure deployed by Xavier head coach, Chris Mack. Taking care of the basketball will be very important if Mack utilizes the press earlier on in today’s matchup.

Another key for the Friars will be containing Xavier center, Matt Stainbrook. Against PC, he shot just 4-13 from the floor and finished with 11 points. In two games since, Stainbrook is averaging 15 points and 12.5 rebounds. His struggles against the Friars had a lot to do with the defensive play of Carson Desrosiers and Kadeem Batts who combined for 9 blocks against the Musketeers.

One thing to keep an eye on, in terms of PC, is the play of Tyler Harris. Against St. John’s he played nearly a season low 20 minutes. The only game he saw less of the floor was in the 81-68 win over Creighton when he played just 17 minutes. On Tuesday night, behind a surging come back against St. John’s, Harris spent nearly the entire second half on the bench. It will be interesting to see how he responds to that today as Harris is typically much more involved in Ed Cooley’s rotation.

Completing the season sweep of Xavier will require yet another strong performance out of Bryce Cotton who has sat just 2 minutes in 2014. Cotton’s 21.3 points per game is second only to Doug McDermott in the Big East and if Xavier wants to avoid their fourth straight loss, they will have to do a better job containing the potential All-American. Cotton dropped 25 points and 7 assists in their last meeting but like many schools have learned, slowing him down is not an easy task.

If Xavier decides to press for a longer period of time than they did on January 25th, turnovers will likely be a major issue. If Josh Fortune and Tyler Harris can help Cotton bring the ball up without turning it over, PC should be in a very good position to win today. If not, they will likely dig themselves a hole that will be extremely difficult to get out of.

Email Craig Belhumeur – craig.belhumeur@friarbasketball.com
Craig on Twitter – @Craig_Belhumeur

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