Xavier Musketeers enter final week 'playing for a lot of different things'

WASHINGTON, D.C. − Xavier head coach Sean Miller took a moment to boast about the Big East Conference following the Musketeers' 98-93 comeback win over Georgetown Saturday night at Capital One Arena.

"What our conference doesn't get enough credit for is we have a 20-game schedule. We're a round-robin conference. We play everybody twice − home and away," Miller said. "There's not a given year where Xavier plays UConn once and you look at the end and you say, 'who won the league?' You can't really say that because not everyone played each other two times.

"We play each other two times in a 20-game schedule. Then, we play a 21st game at Madison Square Garden."

Miller is overwhelmingly correct − every Big East team does, in fact, play each other twice. There's no debate who won the conference this year, as reigning national-champion UConn should wrap up the regular-season crown in a few days.

That Madison Square Garden contest? It's around the corner, with the Big East Tournament slated to start Wednesday, March 13 at "The Mecca."

Here's where Xavier stands entering the final week of the regular season.

Xavier in a 3-way tie following Saturday's win over Georgetown

Xavier rallied from a double-digit second-half deficit Saturday night for just its third road win of the season.

The victory bumped Xavier to .500 in Big East play and into a three-way tie for sixth place with St. John's (17-12, 9-9 Big East) and Providence (18-11, 9-9). All three teams are a game back of Villanova, winners of five of its last six games, for the No. 5 spot.

Snagging a top-5 seed in the Big East Tournament is critical because it comes with a first-round bye. Xavier, which would likely need a four-day run to the Big East Championship to reach the NCAA Tournament, would benefit from a day off.

Furthermore, the No. 5 seed would play the No. 4 seed in the Big East quarterfinals Thursday, March 14. That means avoiding the three-headed monster of ranked teams (UConn, Creighton, Marquette) until Friday's semifinals.

Could Villanova give up the No. 5 spot? For sure. The Wildcats have two virtual coinflips to end the regular season as KenPom predicts a one-point win at Seton Hall and a one-point loss to Creighton.

Who has the advantage? Give St. John's the nod. The Red Storm finish the year against the bottom two teams in the Big East (at DePaul, vs. Georgetown) with KenPom projecting a pair of double-digit wins for Pitino's club.

Providence ends the year at Georgetown and at home against UConn. Xavier visits Butler Wednesday and wraps up the regular season against Marquette. KenPom projects both Providence and Xavier to finish the year 10-10 in league play.

"I'm really proud of everyone that we've stuck with it, and we enter the final week playing for a lot of different things," Miller said.

The most likely scenario?

It's a stretch to see Xavier jumping all the way to No. 5. The crystal ball shows Sean Miller's club entering MSG on the first day of the tournament.

As the standings sit right now, and each team's remaining schedule, the most likely projection is Xavier as the No. 8 seed facing No. 9 Butler in the tournament's opening game at 4 p.m. March 13.

The winner of that game would face No. 1 UConn less than 24 hours later.

Des Claude playing 'for something bigger than himself.'

In Thursday's practice, it felt like a real possibility that Xavier would be without Desmond Claude going into D.C. Claude was in a walking boot following a sprained left ankle he suffered in the win over DePaul.

Claude not only rallied to suit up over the weekend, he carried the Musketeers across the finish line. The sophomore was an unstoppable force attacking Georgetown at the rim, willing Xavier back from a 12-point halftime deficit.

Xavier's backcourt Big 3 have taken turns shining in big moments this season. Saturday night unequivocally belong to Claude.

"In today's climate, not everyone's willing to push through. Des is really playing for something bigger than himself. He's playing for Xavier; he's playing for his teammates, and he was terrific tonight.," Miller said.

Dayvion McKnight, the 'silent assassin'

With Claude viciously bulldozing his way to the rim in the second half, you may have missed some key plays from Dayvion McKnight.

McKnight, who scored 12 of his 18 in the second half, knocked down a triple to pull Xavier within four (59-55) early in the second half. Late in the game, his 3-pointer from the wing with 1:23 remaining was the de facto dagger as Xavier took a 90-84 lead.

McKnight was just 2-of-13 (15.4%) from downtown in the first nine games of the season. In the last 20 games, he's 28-of-63 (44.4%) from deep.

"At one point early (this season), he wouldn't have even taken those shots," Miller said.

On top of 18 points, McKnight spent all of Saturday guarding Georgetown's top scorer, Jayden Epps. He helped get the ball out of Epps' hands in the first half, and ultimately anchored Xavier's defense to holding the Illinois transfer to 6-of-16 from the field while never coming out of the game.

While improving his shooting and being one of the team's best defenders, McKnight is 10th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio. That kind of production is not lost on Miller.

"Dayvion McKnight is by far our most improved player, and he is a stud. I wouldn't trade him for anybody," Miller said. "Kind of like a silent assassin for us. He gives us leadership, plays both ends of the court and does a really good job fitting in between both Des and Quincy."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Xavier Musketeers Big East basketball tournament seeding