Xavier v. Marquette: Three things we learned

There's a difference between mixing it up and being mixed up

Coach Mack once again shuffled the deck today, starting Dee, JP, Bluiett, Reynolds, and Stainbrook. The team proceeded to look horrible in the first half, turning the ball over on nearly 40% of their possessions and shooting 9-24/2-12/2-4. Jalen Reynolds had 4/6/0 and nobody else looked good. Sometimes the obvious answer is obvious because it's right; I hope Xavier stops being so clever and just puts the five best players on the floor to start the game.

I don't give a crap how hard Remy Abell practices

I honestly don't. He's the team's best player. If he wants to sit on the scorer's table and eat boneless wings while the team runs suicides, that's fine with me. He's Xavier's best perimeter player on both ends of the court and basically the best player on the team depending on what you think of Matt Stainbrook. He has to be on the floor; he just makes Xavier that much better. This team is not going anywhere without him.

This team's strength is still in the paint

Xavier outdid Marquette on the glass at both ends and outscored them in the paint to the tune of 24-16. Xavier has gotten behind deep early in both games this week and it has seemed to make Xavier press a little bit on offense. Long jump shots aren't necessarily the best offense for this team. Matt Stainbrook is a very good passer from the post, and running the offense through him will lead to plenty of more open looks from deep.