Marquette vs. Xavier: The Musketeers Crossover Examination

A win is a win no matter the score. Xavier squeaked by Marquette on Saturday to the tune of four points, winning 62-58 at home. Was the game what Xavier fans expected? Of course not, most Muskie fans thought the game would be a walk in the park, a win of around 10 points. However, kudos to Marquette for playing tough the whole game. No one thought they had a legitimate shot in the this game, but they proved otherwise. Except, of course, when Luke Fischer missed a point blank layup that would have gave Marquette the lead with 10 seconds left. If Fischer hit that layup, Xavier may have not won, considering they had no timeouts left and less than 10 seconds remaining to get a good look at a potential game winner. How Fischer missed that layup is beyond me, as it looked to be going in. I guess the ball had a mind of its own there, or maybe Lance Stephenson gave it a blow of air. Whatever the case may be, the Musketeers are now 10-0 at home this season, and notched a critical win to move to .500 in Big East play with a record of 3-3.

Box Score courtesy of Kenpom

Saturday, January 17, 2015 · 12:00 pm ET · Cintas Center · Cincinnati, OH

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 T Marquette 18 13 9 18 58 Xavier 9 13 14 26 62

Marquette (10-7, 2-3)

	Name	Min	ORtg	%Ps	Pts	2PM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OR	DR	A	TO	Blk	Stl	PF
6-1 210 Sr	Derrick Wilson	38	96	15	5	2-3	0-1	1-2	1	4	6	3	0	3	2
6-2 175 Sr	Matt Carlino	35	111	34	27	2-6	6-9	5-5	0	2	0	5	0	2	3
6-6 215 Sr	Juan Anderson	33	52	19	4	1-4	0-1	2-2	2	6	0	4	1	0	5
6-2 185 Fr	Duane Wilson	31	92	26	12	2-3	1-6	5-6	0	1	1	2	0	1	2
6-11 245 So	Luke Fischer	27	86	20	7	2-4	0-0	3-4	1	4	1	3	0	2	3
6-6 180 Fr	Sandy Cohen	19	138	8	3	1-2	0-0	1-1	0	2	1	0	0	2	0
6-7 240 Jr	Steve Taylor	17	21	11	0	0-1	0-1	0-0	1	2	0	1	0	0	1
	Team								0	0		0
	TOTAL	200			58 0.94	10-23 .435	7-18 .389	17-20 .850	5 .192	21 .656	9 .529	18 .290	1 .048	10 .161	16

Xavier (12-6, 3-3)

	Name	Min	ORtg	%Ps	Pts	2PM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OR	DR	A	TO	Blk	Stl	PF
6-0 170 Sr	Dee Davis	30	76	28	7	2-3	1-6	0-0	0	2	6	5	0	3	1
6-10 270 Sr	Matt Stainbrook	27	105	23	8	3-6	0-0	2-2	2	2	4	3	0	1	2
6-6 215 Fr	Trevon Bluiett	25	80	28	7	2-3	0-3	3-6	3	3	2	3	0	3	3
6-10 232 So	Jalen Reynolds	18	125	9	4	2-2	0-0	0-2	2	6	0	0	0	0	0
6-5 190 Fr	J.P. Macura	9			3	0-0	1-2	0-0	0	1	0	2	0	0	2
6-2 195 So	Myles Davis	36	131	17	14	1-2	3-7	3-4	0	0	3	1	0	0	2
6-4 195 Jr	Remy Abell	33	128	14	15	0-1	5-9	0-0	0	1	0	1	0	0	4
6-10 247 Jr	James Farr	18	92	18	4	2-4	0-1	0-0	2	5	1	1	0	0	3
6-2 189 So	Brandon Randolph	4			0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Team								2	1		0
	TOTAL	200			62 1.00	12-21 .571	10-28 .357	8-14 .571	11 .344	21 .808	16 .727	16 .258	0 .000	7 .113	17

Team Notes

-Xavier out-rebounded Marquette 32-26

-Marquette was outscored 40-27 in the second half

-X had 16 assists to Marquette’s nine

-Marquette had an abysmal assist-to-turnover ratio of 1:2. Xavier’s was 1:1

-Both teams combined for 17 threes, seven for Marquette and 10 for Xavier

-Xavier had a win probability of 39.2% after trailing 35-24 with 17:41 remaining in the second half

-Xavier improved to 10-0 at home on the year, 3-0 at home in Big East play

-In conference play X is shooting 77.1% from the line, they shot 57.1% Saturday

-Xavier outscored Marquette 33-3 in bench points

Individual Notes

-Remy Abell and Myles Davis combined for 29 points, off the bench. Davis had 14, Abell 15

-All of Abell’s points came off five made threes. Remy hit three of his threes in a span of 2:37 in the second half

-Myles Davis hit three threes, a short jumper, and three free throws after being fouled behind the arc

-Jalen Reynolds scored just four points, but grabbed a team high eight rebounds

-The nine players who played all scored except Brandon Randolph, who only played four minutes

-Larry Austin Jr., who started against Villanova, was inactive due to an ankle injury

-Sean O’Mara did not play for the third consecutive game, and has only played three minutes in six Big East games

-Dee Davis got his season average of six assists, but committed five turnovers

Wrap Up

Not much to be learned from this game besides Remy Abell should start every game, and Xavier needs to figure out how to score against a zone defense. Surprisingly Marquette leads the Big East in defensive efficiency, so I’m happy Xavier had their lowest scoring game - 62 points - against the best defensive team in the conference. X started to move the ball better against the zone in the second half by moving the ball around and getting it inside to Matt Stainbrook, who then found shooters on the outside. They also pushed the ball, and made the tempo of the game more fast paced in the second half. A fast paced tempo fits the bill for Xavier offensively, and they can’t slow it down just because the other team wants them to.

It is on film now that Xavier has a hard time scoring against the zone, so expect Providence to play some zone come Thursday night at the Dunkin Donuts Center. I don’t want to call the Providence game a must win since there are still a lot of games remaining, but X needs to notch a road win sooner rather than later. A road win at Providence will give Xavier confidence that they can win on the road. Sometimes all you need is to hit one domino before they all begin to fall, and if Xavier can beat Providence on the road, it can give the Muskies much needed momentum away from home.

And one more thing. I expect Jalen Reynolds to be dunkin some donuts at the Dunkin Donuts Center.