Xavier power rankings, week thirteen

As these kind of reflect the events of the week, I feel obligated to discuss the Creighton loss. That's all I'm going to say about it though. If you had told me X would split last week's games and have the loss come in overtime, I would have assumed they would have played out the opposite of how they actually did. The page is quickly turning though, and the team is still not in too hateful a position for at-large consideration. Here's how I've got the players stacking up right now.

13. and 12. Makinde London and Edmond Sumner
Redshirts gonna redshirt.

11. Larry Austin, Jr.
I know technically he got minutes this week, but here's the thing: he was front and center in the bench reaction shots when Xavier was shooting its way into the lead against Providence, and his three-point celebration game seriously needs upped. Only his spontaneous glee when Jalen Reynolds yakked on Providence at the end of the game kept him above the two redshirts.

10. Brandon Randolph
Dee Davis played 78 minutes this week.

9. Sean O'Mara
After the Seton Hall game in which James Farr played 14 minutes, Coach Mack said he needed to play James more. James then played 12 and 11 minutes in the next two games. I know much has been made in some circles of Coach Mack playing O'Mara for 11 minutes on Saturday and then saying he needed to play him more, but we should take that with a grain of salt. For my part, I love O'Mara's game and would like to see him out there more.

8. JP Macura
JP continues to know no shame with his shot selection and he finally snapped out of his dry spell from behind the arc this week. His length can bother opposing point guards on top of that 1-3-1, but he still has to work on defending for the full possession. He's not shy about chatting up opposing players; I'm looking forward to the Shootout with no small amount of trepidation in that regard.

7. James Farr
Farr is 1-8 from behind the arc this year. More troubling than that is his defensive performance. He blocks a good amount of shots and gets a lot of defensive rebounds, but a good portion of that is down to his habit of planting himself in the lane while his man roams free. When some undersized four is raining corner threes on Xavier, check to see if #2 is catching them when they fall through the net.

6. Trevon Bluiett
Was I too mean to Farr? I don't mean to be, but his game is frustrating sometimes.

Anyway, Trevon scored 2 in the midweek but bounced back hard with 19 against Providence. His 3-7 from behind the arc was huge for Xavier; the Muskies have to be able to make the threes they're taking to be a viable threat going forward. Bluiett is as talented a scorer as is on the squad, to the point that we sometimes forget he's a freshman.

5. Remy Abell
Remy bounces in and out of Coach Mack's doghouse for reasons I'm not entirely sure of. The zones help decrease Xavier's need for him as the sole zone defender, but he's shooting 44.4% from three in conference play and has a knack for beating the other team down the floor for layups, even after made buckets. Transition scores get the offense going, and nobody gets them quite like Abell does.

4. Jalen Reynolds
Jalen had 36/15/2 with 3 blocks and 5 steals on 14-19/0-0/8-11 shooting on the week. He also had 8 fouls, including a tech. The only guy who can consistently get in his way is himself right now; when he's flexing his talent and not taking himself out of games, the Big East doesn't have an answer for him.

3. Dee Davis
Forty-two assists, six turnovers in his last five games. He's (mercifully) shooting less and finding open teammates more, and the team is better for it. Dee is playing like a senior who doesn't want to see his tournament hopes flame out in February. As long as our scorers keep scoring, he can keep shooting twice a game and be fine.

2. Matt Stainbrook
Why do I think Matt is this irreplaceable despite how he played last week? Because when he plays like garbage, we lose to teams like Creighton. He's clearly nursing some kind of injury, and he needs to get well soon.

1. Myles Davis
Where would this team be without Myles? Probably with at least 10 losses and a really grim resume. His game is diversifying and he's clearly becoming a vocal, on-court leader for the team. When Xavier needed its collective fat pulled out of the fire against Providence, it was Myles who banged three threes in four possessions and got Cintas rocking. He's earned his spot on the top of this list.