clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

A boxscore, some thoughts, and a lot of Vines from Xavier's exhibition win over Northwood

Words at the top of the page, moving pictures at the bottom.

By Joel D
Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

Everyone loves stats, right?

The first thing that jumps out to me is the point guard situation. Ed Sumner and LAJ were both very efficient and active scorers. Austin used his strength and speed to get out in transition and make his way to the rim; Sumner was very impressive in the half court and is certainly not shy about finding his own shot. The other side to that each had just one assist. Myles Davis led the team with seven assists, but had six turnovers.

I think point guard minutes are going to be spread between Sumner and Austin pretty evenly at the outset of the season. Neither is really the type of player who walks the ball up and sets the offense in motion; both excel at attacking a backpedaling defense. Xavier is going to be dynamic in transition with either (or both) of those two on the floor.

Jalen's line is superficially pretty discouraging, but I wouldn't worry too hard about it. Northwood was sending a post double most of the time Jalen caught it, so he had the choice of either returning the ball or attacking a stacked defense. James Farr was likewise troubled on offense, but both he and Jalen crushed the glass. It's something to monitor going forward, but I suspect they'll both be just fine.

JP came off the bench ready to light it up and did just that. Defense is still a work in progress for him, but the effort is there and he is going to be a scoring menace off the bench. Remy was himself; scoring 14 points on only six shots. Trevon also had 14, but more notably he led the team in rebounding and had five offensive boards. X is going to need that out of him if they go small this year.

A couple of other things before we wrap: first, Kaiser Gates got in well before Makinde London and got 16 minutes to London's 6. Make of that what you will. Gates was jittery, so don't spend too much time sweating his stat line. Also, fouls are going to be an issue. There were 69 of them called in this game, and freedom of movement on the perimeter is once again a point of emphasis for officials. Expect a lot of free throw shooting competitions early, followed by things going back to how they always are for conference play.

Let's do some video highlights. The YouTube highlight package can be found here. Below are the Vines that Xavier threw up during and after the game. I think posting them as tweets will keep them from all loading at once. If it doesn't, I'm sure someone will tell me.

More From Banners On The Parkway