By Oliver Thomas, Staff Writer

On Sunday, it was announced Xavier would be taking on the University of Texas Longhorns in the First Four game in Dayton on Wednesday. It was a long couple of days for Xavier fans after a disappointing loss in the Big East Quarterfinals, falling 89-87 to Marquette. It was unclear if Xavier would be in the field or not, but with help from other bubble teams losing and a lack of bid thiefs, Musketeer faithful were able to breathe a sigh of relief when they heard their name called on the selection show. 

The Longhorns’ season hasn’t gone as planned up until this point as they opened the season ranked 19th nationally in the preseason AP poll after bringing in a good group of transfers and incoming first-years. They ended the regular season with a 19-15 record, as well as a regular season conference record of 6-12, which is the worst of any team to ever make the tournament through an at-large bid.

Despite an underwhelming record on paper, Texas has shown that they can hang with just about anyone on a good night after competing in a historically good SEC. They hold seven quad one wins, including wins over tournament teams Vanderbilt University and Texas A&M University to save their season and get them to Dayton.

A large part of their recent success is credited to SEC Freshman of the Year guard Tre Johnson. The projected lottery pick averages 20 points and is the main vessel in Texas’ offense. If Xavier can find a way to slow Johnson down, it will become much harder for Texas to find a way to victory.

Part of what makes Johnson so effective is that he is a matchup nightmare. He stands at 6’6”, which very few teams are able to guard. Thankfully for Xavier, sophomore guard Dailyn Swain has the size and athleticism that could give the Musketeers a chance to slow down Johnson.

Tennessee University was able to shut Johnson down, holding him to just 11 points and forcing three turnovers. We can expect Xavier to take a page out of the Volunteers’ book, as Tennessee put their best defender on Johnson and didn’t let him get any easy looks. Unsurprisingly, when Johnson became a non-factor, Tennessee was able to pull away and cause the Longhorns offense to stall.

Outside of Johnson, there still are multiple scoring threats for Texas. Forward and former Creighton University Blue Jay Arthur Kaluma averages 12 points and seven rebounds while shooting 36% from 3. Guards Jordan Pope and Tramon Mark also averaged double figures and are key pieces for the Longhorns defensively. Center Kaiden Shedrick is coming off two strong performances in the SEC tournament, so Freemantle will have the task of shutting down the Longhorns big man who averaged 12 points and five rebounds in the SEC tournament.

Crucial for Xavier will be getting Texas in foul trouble. The Longhorns have showed a tendency to get into foul trouble in their most recent games, as they had four players with at least four personal fouls in their last two games. Xavier will be at a great advantage if they can get to the bonus early as the Musketeers are an elite free throw shooting team, holding a Big East-best 83% from the charity stripe.

Xavier comes into this game well-rested, as they will have only played once in the last 10 days. On the other side, Texas will be coming off four days of rest after they played three games in three days, including a double overtime win to advance to the SEC quarterfinals.  

Tonight is a huge opportunity for Xavier basketball on the national stage against a highly respected program. Anything can happen in March, and the first step for a deep tournament run for Xavier is to find a way to survive and make their way out of Dayton in hopes for a date with Illinois Friday night.