Scouting report: Xavier Musketeers begin Big East home stretch against Villanova Wildcats
After a grueling road stretch that wrapped up a win over DePaul on Saturday, Xavier now opens up a stretch with three of its next four games at home starting on Wednesday against Villanova.
Xavier came up short at Villanova on Jan. 3 in a low-scoring rock fight at Finneran Pavilion. Both teams shot under 40% from the field and combined to go just 15-of-48 from beyond the arc.
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Villanova escaped with a one-point win after a pair of game-winning attempts from Desmond Claude missed the mark. Villanova has lost six of eight since while Xavier is over .500 in Big East play for the first time all season.
"It's a home Big East game. It's two teams that are playing for a lot," Xavier head coach Sean Miller said.
Here's everything to know about Wednesday's pivotal matchup of two NCAA Tournament hopefuls.
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Xavier vs. Villanova scouting report
Tip: Wednesday, 7 p.m., Cintas Center (10,224)
TV: FS1
Ratings: Xavier is No. 37 in KenPom and Villanova is No. 38. Xavier is at No. 47 in the NCAA Net Rankings and Villanova is No. 45.
Series history: It's a rivalry Villanova has dominated, improving to 18-4 all-time against Xavier after the win in January. Villanova has won three straight at Cintas dating back to Xavier's 66-54 over the then-ranked No. 17 Wildcats in 2019.
Villanova Wildcats scouting report
Record: 12-10 (5-6 Big East)
Head coach: Kyle Neptune (29-27 at Villanova, second season)
Offense: 73 ppg
Defense: 67.6 ppg
Overview: Villanova was 4-1 in Big East play following a 25-point route of DePaul on Jan. 12, but the Wildcats dropped five-straight after that as head coach Kyle Neptune's seat got hot among the Wildcat faithful.
When it needed it most, Villanova got a potential season-saving 68-50 win over Providence on Sunday. When all else fails, Villanova can still turn to its defense to grind out wins. Against the Friars, Villanova held Providence to just 15-of-51 shooting (29.4%) and 7-of-33 from 3-point range (7-of-33).
Villanova's defense is No. 32 in KenPom in overall efficiency and No. 39 in defensive rebounding. Offensively, Villanova is No. 56 in efficiency and rarely turn the ball over or crash the glass, opting instead to get back on defense to slow down up-tempo teams like Xavier from breaking the game open in transition. The Wildcats are eighth in the Big East in three-point shooting (32.8%) despite chucking up the second-most triples per game (27.9).
In January's matchup, Villanova's starters combined for just 38 points on 12-of-39 shooting. The difference was made off the bench with Brendan Hausen hitting four 3-pointers and Hakim Hart scoring 14.
Fifth-year Wildcat Eric Dixon leads the Wildcats in scoring at 15.9 points per game and Tyler Burton leads in rebounding (7).
"He (Dixon) is playing maybe as well as he ever has," Miller said. "I think he's one of the Big East's overall great players."
Villanova's Justin Moore returns to Cintas Center
Villanova fifth-year guard Justin Moore has averaged 12.8 points per game in his Wildcat career. Moore missed nearly a month with a knee sprain, including the win over Xavier. Since returning Jan. 12, Moore has averaged only 8.8 points a night.
Moore matches up with the Musketeers for the first time since scoring 25 on 10-of-13 shooting in a 64-63 win over Xavier last February.
Projected lineup
(Pos., Height, Stats)
Mark Amstrong (G, 6'2", 8.4 ppg)
TJ Bamba (G, 6'5", 10.5 ppg)
Justin Moore (G, 6'5", 10.5 ppg)
Tyler Burton (F, 6'7", 8.5 ppg)
Eric Dixon (F, 6'8", 15.9 ppg)
Xavier Musketeers scouting report
Record: 12-10 (6-5 Big East)
Head coach: Sean Miller (159-67 at Xavier, seventh season)
Offense: 77.1 ppg
Defense: 73 ppg
Overview: Both teams are trying to improve their at-large NCAA Tournament chances. According to the latest ESPN Bracketology projections, both teams have work to do with Villanova being one of the last four out. The UC Bearcats moved to No. 30 in the NCAA Net Rankings after its road win at Texas Tech, giving Xavier a third Quadrant 1 victory (Saint Mary's, Providence).
In the next four games, Xavier has two chances at a Quadrant 1 win (vs. Creighton, at Seton Hall) and a pair of Quadrant 2 opportunities, starting with Villanova on Wednesday.
"You can't run away from March Madness. It's what makes college basketball so special," Miller said. "The closer the calendar gets toward March; the more people talk about the tournament and those types of things. Innately, those things are part of your every day, whether you want to ignore them or not."
Xavier leading from the back
The trio of Xavier guards who represented the Musketeers in Manhattan for Big East Media Day in October are leading the club in a big way. Claude, Dayvion McKnight and Quincy Olivari are the team's leading scorers and combined for 60-plus points over the last two games.
In Xavier's 12 wins this season, that trio is averaging to combine 51 points. That number drops to 42.4 points in its 10 losses.
"It's grown a tremendous amount," Olivari said of the backcourt's chemistry. "Every day, sticking with the process of getting to know each other when were in practice, then finding each other in transition. It's definitely grown since we first shared the court with each other."
Projected lineup
(Pos., Height, Stats)
Dayvion McKnight (G, 6'0", 11.7 ppg)
Quincy Olivari (G, 6'3", 19.1 ppg)
Desmond Claude (G, 6'6", 16.2 ppg)
Gytis Nemeiksa (F, 6'7", 6.4 ppg)
Abou Ousmane (F, 6'10", 7.7 ppg)
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Big East basketball: Xavier Musketeers host Villanova Wildcats
