It’s been some time since Xavier had a season like this one. The Musketeers have been so good for so long, it’s amazing that a season like this was even a little predictable, let alone that it has materialized to this point. Yet here we are, in early February, and the Musketeers have lost five in a row to fall below .500 overall and to 3-7 in conference play, fresh off being handled 76-54 by Creighton in Omaha.
Xavier has a remarkable streak of 36 straight seasons with at least a .500 record in conference play, which stretches from their time in the old Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now the Horizon League), then the Atlantic 10 and now Big East. No other school in Division I has a streak longer than 31 years. This may not be seen in quite the same light as Kansas’ 14 straight Big 12 regular season titles, or Gonzaga’s dominance in the West Coast Conference the past two decades, but it is very impressive any way you slice it.
Along with that, Xavier has made five straight NCAA Tournaments and 12 of the last 13, and they have done more than just show up for a game. Only eight other schools out of more than 350 have made it at least 12 times in the last 13 years.
You get the idea. Xavier has been a model of winning consistency that you could bank on for years. Now they’re going through a transition year, having lost their top five players from last season and having a new head coach. They have a nice recruiting class that will get them moving next season and beyond, but that does nothing for this season, where three more losses will snap the incredible streak they have been on.
The Musketeers didn’t have an easy time getting to Omaha for Sunday’s game due to weather in the Midwest. On Saturday, their original flight to Omaha was diverted to Kansas City due to low visibility in Omaha. They had to fly to Lincoln instead, but that flight got diverted to Grand Island, Nebraska, which was 90 miles from Omaha. You can see more about their adventure at team’s official Twitter, as they chronicled all of it.
That certainly didn’t help matters, but you can be sure they weren’t using that as an excuse. And as this was their fifth straight loss, the end result is not a departure from recent games aside from the margin of defeat, as only the loss at Villanova that began this losing streak had been by double digits and that was a ten-point game.
What’s interesting about this team is that five players average in double figures, the kind of scoring balance that often propels a team to success. But that’s also true of another struggling high-major team, Miami, and like the Hurricanes, the Musketeers are not deep. They have struggled to keep up their defense in Big East play, allowing opponents to shoot over 46 percent from the field including 39 percent from deep. Creighton shot over 58 percent, including 7-15 from long range, and the Musketeers gave the ball away 19 times at the offensive end, which didn’t help matters. About the only bright spot was that they had 19 assists on 21 field goals, which tells you that they scored by moving the ball.
Xavier now has almost a week off before DePaul comes to town, so they have time to work on things. But a lack of depth is a tough thing to change this late in the season, as it is usually developed starting from early on. They will battle, they will do all they can to keep the big streak going. And in a Big East that is well-balanced and very even after Villanova and Marquette, a winning streak to change the look of the season is not unthinkable.
Side Dishes
Behind Collin Gillespie’s career game (30 points), Villanova took over in the second half and pulled away late from visiting Georgetown 77-65. The Wildcats held the Hoyas below 34 percent from the field and got 24 points from Eric Paschall and 16 rebounds from Jermaine Samuels as well.
Purdue stayed hot by knocking off Minnesota 73-63 in West Lafayette for their seventh straight win. Five Boilermakers scored in double figures, and neither team shot well from deep, but both shot well over 50 percent inside the arc.
Clemson rolled over Wake Forest 64-37 led by a big game from Elijah Thomas, who had 23 points, ten rebounds and seven blocked shots.
The Horizon League saw a surprise as UIC completed a good weekend by edging league leader Northern Kentucky 69-67 in Chicago. Combined with Wright State winning 79-74 at IUPUI, the Norse now have just a one-game lead over the Raiders and Oakland, with IUPUI, UIC and Detroit Mercy just another game back.
In the last game of the day before Super Bowl LIII took over everyone’s attention, Stanford pulled out am 84-81 win at Cal to keep the Golden Bears winless in Pac-12 play.
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference reviewed footage from right after Saturday’s game between Norfolk State and Howard and subsequently announced the suspensions of six players. Jordan Butler, Kyonze Chavis and Nic Thomas’ of Norfolk State and Princewill Anosike, Jalen Jones and Andre Toure’ of Howard have all been suspended for one game for violating conference policy. The full release announcing the disciplinary action is here, and for each team, the next game is on Saturday.
Tonight’s Menu
Because of the Super Bowl, we have a rare instance of a Monday with quite a few more games than the Sunday right before it. Busy slates in the MEAC and SWAC help lead the way.
- Virginia Tech hosts Louisville to get things going (7 p.m.)
- A Big Ten game is on tape as Penn State visits Northwestern (8 p.m.)
- SWAC action is highlighted by Alabama State trying to get within a game of the team they visit, undefeated Prairie View A&M (8:30 p.m.)
- The Big 12 takes over later on as West Virginia visits Texas Tech and Oklahoma hosts Iowa State (9 p.m.)
- The Big Sky also comes in later on, with their three games being headlined by Montana State visiting Northern Colorado (9 p.m.)
