Xavier Scouting Report | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Xavier Scouting Report

X is devastated by injuries, again

Beginning to remind me of our women's teams, they're just not as deep

Feel bad for their program and their fans, don't wish that on anyone
 
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Ryan Conwell seems like the guy that could carve us up. Good enough off the dribble to get to the hoop, and a sharpshooter from three. But he does have some issues with consistency, I’d expect Diarra gets this matchup with a goal of frustrating him early

I thought McKnight would be a bit better this year but with Conwell taking so many shots, not surprising that he hasn’t broken out. But if Diarra is spending his time on Conwell, need Solo to step up here because we know McKnight can pop off if he needs to

I feel really bad for Xavier fans about Freemantle again. Xavier was probably banking on him taking advantage of a matchup with Samson. Jerome Hunter is kind of like McKnight in the sense that we know he can pop off if he needs to, even if that isn’t his role right now

X has a bunch of guys that are sleeper picks to take over games, but as we’ve learned recently so do we. Play the we’ve played post-Maui and we win. Let’s go huskies!
 
Curious what our center rotation will be with Samson out and Xavier being forced to go small for a bunch of the game. Do we see Singare spelling Tarris or will Hurley similarly go small with the Stewart/Karaban lineup at the 4/5?
 
This would have been a really good team with Freemantle and Traore. The guards are good enough, and I think Miller does a great job with guards, but there is no coming back from losing two All Big East caliber players to injury, especially today where schools don’t like spending money on their bench so a lot of players that would develop there in the past are on mid-major rosters getting playing time and angling for big money their sophomore or junior years.
 
Mahaney has a chance to have a good game.. Xavier doesn't have rim protection and their not really a defensive minded team with guards that clamp down and pressure on defense.
Now Sean Miller is a smart guy and might pick up a lot in film review and tell McNight and their guards to pressure Mahaney.
 
Since the last time we played Xavier, they've moved up 13 spots to 47th in KenPom, mostly due to a 16 spot improvement of the team's defense.

The biggest change to the lineup is Zach Freemantle is now healthy and after playing much of his career at the 4, he is the team's starting center with Swain/Hunter sharing the 4 spot, which allows four shooters on the floor at all times.

This makes Miller's rotation even shorter, with just seven consistent regulars and John Hugley playing less and less as the season goes on (3 or less minutes in 3 of the last 5). In other words, we'll see more switchable and athletic Xavier rotations this time around than last as Hugley played about half the game last tilt.

Overall, the main focus will be stopping the inside/outside duo of Conwell/Freemantle as both can score from anywhere and are also solid distributors. McKnight has been struggling from three, but that will correct soon and he's still an excellent downhill guard. I love Swain, so versatile and athletic, honestly his only weakness is gaining more confidence from three, but that'll develop someday. All of the top-seven can score in bunches.

Coin flip of a game.

These stats below are Big East only*

Screenshot 2025-01-22 at 3.36.25 PM.jpg
 
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There is nothing to like about this one:

  1. Took us to OT with Liam, in Hartford
  2. Are hot
  3. Need the win badly for any tourney considerations
  4. Swing revenge game in their place
  5. Miller is a great coach and will target the soft spots every team is now targeting
  6. We still don't have Liam
A win here would warrant a massive wipe of sweat from the brow, take us into DePaul at home on what is hopefully Liam's first game back. Will be pleasantly surprised if they win and very curious as to the line. If going by the KP spread, would suggest Xavier by 1.
 
RuffRuff said:
There is nothing to like about this one:

  1. Took us to OT with Liam, in Hartford
  2. Are hot
  3. Need the win badly for any tourney considerations
  4. Swing revenge game in their place
  5. Miller is a great coach and will target the soft spots every team is now targeting
  6. We still don't have Liam
A win here would warrant a massive wipe of sweat from the brow, take us into DePaul at home on what is hopefully Liam's first game back. Will be pleasantly surprised if they win and very curious as to the line. If going by the KP spread, would suggest Xavier by 1.
Expand ...

All of that is 100% true and why I think we are in trouble, but oddly it is comforting because this team constantly surprises me. Watch us win by 8 . (We will build a lead up to 24 early in 2nd half, and then limp to the finish) ;);)
 
RuffRuff said:
There is nothing to like about this one:

  1. Took us to OT with Liam, in Hartford
  2. Are hot
  3. Need the win badly for any tourney considerations
  4. Swing revenge game in their place
  5. Miller is a great coach and will target the soft spots every team is now targeting
  6. We still don't have Liam
A win here would warrant a massive wipe of sweat from the brow, take us into DePaul at home on what is hopefully Liam's first game back. Will be pleasantly surprised if they win and very curious as to the line. If going by the KP spread, would suggest Xavier by 1.
Expand ...
Even worse is Hurley's presser was rough - teams and coaches gonna rise higher - he should have waited until before we play DePaul at home.
 
RuffRuff said:
There is nothing to like about this one:

  1. Took us to OT with Liam, in Hartford
  2. Are hot
  3. Need the win badly for any tourney considerations
  4. Swing revenge game in their place
  5. Miller is a great coach and will target the soft spots every team is now targeting
  6. We still don't have Liam
A win here would warrant a massive wipe of sweat from the brow, take us into DePaul at home on what is hopefully Liam's first game back. Will be pleasantly surprised if they win and very curious as to the line. If going by the KP spread, would suggest Xavier by 1.
Expand ...
With Freemantle back and available-now playing the 5- Will be an interesting matchup for Johnson/Reed
 
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RuffRuff said:
There is nothing to like about this one:

  1. Took us to OT with Liam, in Hartford
  2. Are hot
  3. Need the win badly for any tourney considerations
  4. Swing revenge game in their place
  5. Miller is a great coach and will target the soft spots every team is now targeting
  6. We still don't have Liam
A win here would warrant a massive wipe of sweat from the brow, take us into DePaul at home on what is hopefully Liam's first game back. Will be pleasantly surprised if they win and very curious as to the line. If going by the KP spread, would suggest Xavier by 1.
Expand ...
With Freemantle at the 5, Reed Jr can overpower him in the post on offense, but he will have a hell of a time guarding Freemantle on defense as he will be defending around the arc. Samson, who was also out in that Xavier game, will be better on the defensive end against Freemantle.

Stewart and AK can have an easier time defending against Swain as he really isn't a good perimeter shooter. They can play a few steps off of him and also help out others on dribble penetration. Ryan Conwell is the guy I am most concerned with. Maybe Hurley has Diarra defend Conwell a few times, but not full time.

I think this will be a shootout type game as neither team plays good defense, but they both run sophisticated offenses.
 
Umami Zen said:
With Freemantle back and available-now playing the 5- Will be an interesting matchup for Johnson/Reed
Expand ...

Maybe play some Karaban or Stewart at the 5.
 
Xavier beating up StJ up 10 at the half. A Xavier win here would be nice to, keep them fat and happy for a bit. And even out the standings.
 
RuffRuff said:
Xavier beating up StJ up 10 at the half. A Xavier win here would be nice to, keep them fat and happy for a bit. And even out the standings.
Expand ...

Played like they did against us down the stretch and gave it away. Miller must be frustrated with this team real good at times but they lose their minds easily.

They will be a load Saturday night no matter.
 
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Mentioned this last night. Swain left the game in the 2nd half with a leg injury. After the game, Miller said it was a sprained ankle and X rays were negative. Obviously not sure of his availability for Saturday night, but Xavier only goes about 8 deep, so his presence is huge.

Also, Maddox had 22 against us in the first game. He has 32 total points since then, with 14 coming against Marquette the game after.
 
BFieldHusky said:
Mentioned this last night. Swain left the game in the 2nd half with a leg injury. After the game, Miller said it was a sprained ankle and X rays were negative. Obviously not sure of his availability for Saturday night, but Xavier only goes about 8 deep, so his presence is huge.

Also, Maddox had 22 against us in the first game. He has 32 total points since then, with 14 coming against Marquette the game after.
Expand ...
Him being out would be a blessing for Karaban. He's by far their best defender.
 
BFieldHusky said:
Mentioned this last night. Swain left the game in the 2nd half with a leg injury. After the game, Miller said it was a sprained ankle and X rays were negative. Obviously not sure of his availability for Saturday night, but Xavier only goes about 8 deep, so his presence is huge.

Also, Maddox had 22 against us in the first game. He has 32 total points since then, with 14 coming against Marquette the game after.
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Maddox was 5-9 from three against us. He’s 6-21 in 8 the games since. He was 4-19 in the 8 games prior
 
REB1094 said:
Maddox was 5-9 from three against us. He’s 6-21 in 8 the games since. He was 4-19 in the 8 games prior
Expand ...
If you remove his Seton Hall game where he scored 14 pts, Maddox has not scored a total of 23 pts total in all the games after the UConn game.
 
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It's Prime Time! We're going up against Bron and Steph, pro wrasslin' and NCIS.
 
RuffRuff said:
I support your dyslexia
View attachment 106477
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Thanks. The opening odds I saw were UConn -1.5 and now it's flipped to UConn +1.5. Not surprised based on how UConn has played recently and that Xavier lost to St. John's.


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UConn vs Xavier Odds, Picks & Predictions - January 25, 2025 | The Action Network

See betting odds, player props, and live scores for the Connecticut Huskies vs Xavier Musketeers College Basketball game on January 25, 2025
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