By Former XU Coach in Cintas, Guest Writer

Xavier has begun to look to the college basketball landscape through the bubble telescope after an 85-71 victory last night over the Butler University Bulldogs. 

If one needs an indicator of the firepower of Xavier’s offense, senior center Abou Ousmane drained a three just seconds into the shot clock to extend the Xavier lead to 35-19 midway through the first half.

That one-in-a-million make was the culmination of a 16-0 run after Butler sprinted out of the gate to a 16-8 lead. The white-clad Musketeers led by as many as 19 in the first half. Sophomore guard Desmond Claude and senior point guard Dayvion McKnight both showed elite ability to change pace and get to the cup, each drawing 2 fouls on drives and scoring from multiple crafty lay-ins. 

“Dayvion McKnight made a big difference for our team tonight,” Head Coach Sean Miller said. “When you lead the league in assist to turnover ratio, and you play really tough minded defense…He’s giving us really quality play at the point guard position.”

 Despite facing a 14 point deficit at the intermission, the Bulldogs proved their ability  to shotmake at a high level and draw the game even at 60-60 midway through the second period. One of the league’s other premier point guards and former St. John’s star Posh Alexander, in his senior season, started the second half with an old-fashioned three point play off of an offensive rebound. He then cashed in on three triples to lead his squad back to within striking distance.

“We weren’t ready to play. We had to take that punch in the face and then regroup,” recalled Miller. “We struggled to rebound in the first four minutes of the game, and really struggled to rebound in the first four minutes of the second half as well.” 

The sustained hustle of senior forward Gytis Nemeikša stood out to Miller amidst this struggle. The 6’7” Lithuanian stretch big, who was granted a second year of eligibility by the NCAA last month, pulled in nine rebounds.. He also connected on five of his last six shots from distance, opening up opportunities in the paint for guards and bigs alike. Xavier outscored Butler in the paint in both halves, as Ousmane and Nemeikša played an overwhelming majority of frontcourt minutes. 

 “Gytis is playing his best basketball of the season right now, and it’s awesome to see. I have never questioned (his) effort or mindset,” Miller said.

Miller noted the improvement in intrasquad communication among the four Musketeers he denotes as this team’s “leadership group.” Claude, Ousmane, McKnight and one of the nation’s premier transfers in graduate student Quincy Olivari have emerged as the core of this team. Claude is the only returning player to record minutes this season for the X-Men. Fellow returning sophomore guard Kam Craft has been notably absent from the bench since last week’s UConn game. Xavier’s coach, now in his seventh season between two stints in Norwood, plans to lean on his core quartet in this crucial stretch of the season.

“When we get to mid-January through February, this is it. These are the meaningful moments we’ve been looking forward to. We want to be at our best as we enter this stretch,” Miller said.

The Musketeers have a second date scheduled with former Xavier coach Thad Matta’s team on Mar. 6. The Musketeers will welcome Georgetown coach Ed Cooley into Cintas Center on Friday, this time as coach of the 8-9 Georgetown Hoyas; Cooley spent the previous 12 seasons at Providence. 

The Musketeers have climbed to 38th in the NCAA Evaluation Tool rankings, which is used by NCAA Tournament Selection Committee to discern which teams should be granted at large bids into March Madness.

Prolific CBS Sports College Basketball Insider Jon Rothstein writes, “Xavier needs to go 10-5 in its final 15 games and not take a bad loss in the Big East Tournament. If that happens, the First Four feels within reach,” writes Prolific CBS Sports College Basketball Insider Jon Rothstein.

Momentum is certainly building on Victory Parkway as the Musketeers slash their way through the Big East gauntlet.