Sports
By Oliver Thomas, Staff Writer
A dominant 74-69 win over Georgetown University followed by a tough loss against Villanova University has made the Xavier men’s basketball team’s chances at March Madness much more difficult with seven remaining games.
The two Big East foes went back and forth up until the 12-minute mark in the second half. Following a 15-3 run, Xavier had a 52-46 lead and looked to pull away and walk out of the Wells Fargo Center with one of their best wins of the year. Unfortunately, the Wildcats came out of the timeout on fire as one of the nation’s best players, senior forward Eric Dixon, would go on to score 22 of his 24 points with Xavier unable to answer.
The Musketeers fell 80-68 despite a season-high 24 points off the bench from senior guard Dante Maddox Jr. Graduate forward Zach Freemantle added 18 points and five rebounds, while the rest of the team struggled as starters sophomore guard Dailyn Swain and junior guard Ryan Conwell only combined for seven points.
Following Sunday’s loss, Xavier’s back is against the wall. With a record of 14-9 for the season and 6-7 in Big East play, the Musketeers have little room for error in order to return to March Madness.
Senior guard Dante Maddox Jr. had his best game in a Xavier uniform on Sunday, scoring 24 points and going four for six on three’s, along with five rebounds and three assists.
Prior to Sunday’s game, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had Xavier in the “first four out.” With other bubble teams like University of North Carolina and University of Southern California picking up big wins, as well as Xavier losing, the Musketeers are further out of the tournament picture.
The biggest hole on Xavier’s resume comes with their Quad One record – games against teams ranked 1-30 in the current NET at home, games at a neutral site against teams ranked 1-50 in the NET and games on the road against teams ranked 1-75 in the NET. The Musketeers hold a 1-7 record in Quad One games, with the only win coming on the road against Marquette. Though the Quadrant win system isn’t everything, it is one of the biggest predictors in whether a team will make the tournament through an at-large bid.
On the bright side, Xavier holds a 13-2 record in Quads Two, Three and Four. This includes quality wins over projected tournament teams Wake Forest and UConn – two wins that could be crucial come Selection Sunday.
Though Xavier is currently not in the projected March Madness bracket, they have enough time to change the tides in their final seven games and give the committee a convincing argument for why they deserve a spot in this year’s March Madness tournament.
The first major test comes this Wednesday, as Xavier goes into one of the toughest Big East environments for a Quad Two-win opportunity at Providence College. The Friars’ record may not be great, but winning at the Amica Mutual Pavilion is always tough. Xavier will need to take the crowd out of the game early and not be affected by the Friars’ slow pace in order to come out of Rhode Island with a win.
The following three games come against the bottom three teams in the Big East as Xavier hosts Butler and DePaul before travelling to Seton Hall. ESPN’s matchup predictor gives the Musketeers a 70% chance or better in winning all three of these games. Unless Xavier wins the Big East Tournament, dropping one of these games could very well end their hopes of making the tournament.
After this stretch, Xavier has their biggest test as Creighton comes to Cintas in what could be a Quad One win opportunity depending on how the NET rankings shake up. For Xavier to be able to beat Creighton they’ll need to slow down the Blue Jays leading scorers’ Ryan Kalkbrenner, Steven Ashworth and Jamiya Neal combined for 60 points in an 86-77 win over the Musketeers in late January.
Xavier finishes the season with a road test at Butler before they end the regular season hosting Providence.
The Musketeers will need to play their best basketball to close the season before the Big East tournament, where they have an opportunity to pick up multiple key wins in hopes of boosting their tournament chances.
Though Xavier may not be playing to the standard fans have hoped for, they have shown that when this team is playing their best, they can hang with anyone. With just a little over a month until Selection Sunday, there is plenty of time for Xavier to put themselves in place to return to the big dance.
