James Farr dominates the paint, Ed Sumner returns in Xavier's win at Marquette

What happened: Xavier 74 - Marquette 66

This can't start anywhere other than James Farr, who didn't start at all. Xavier's senior big man came off the bench and anchored the team to the tune of 16/18/0 with a steal and a block on 6-10/0-0/4-4 shooting. It wasn't like James showcased anything other than hard work out there; he consistently got to good spots before receiving the ball, tore up the glass by just going after the ball, and made sure he wouldn't be called out for taking plays off again. When he goes after it in the middle, he's a force not many teams can handle.

Myles Davis had one of the weirdest lines you're likely to see, posting 2-10/2-7/0-0 shooting and a game line of 6/8/4. You don't often see a guy shoot 7 threes and get 8 boards, but that line for Myles is a testament to the way Xavier prepared for this game. With Fischer and Ellenson on the floor at the same time, Xavier needed someone to go big on the glass to counter Marquette's size and allow X to continue to play small. Myles was that dude today, and he stuck two huge threes in the second half when Marquette was trying to crawl back in.

The team's scoring leader on the day was the team's scoring leader on the year, as Tre awoke from a slow start to finish the game with 18/5/1 on 5-13/2-7/6-6. He played his hind end off on defense against everyone's hero Henry Ellenson, making the 6'11", 245-pound beast work for his baskets despite his size advantage. Trevon is now 3 of his last 14 from behind the arc, but it's hard to look too much into it with the amount of energy he was burning on the defensive end.

Speaking of scoring, Xavier didn't let Marquette do any of it during the game's decisive passage. With just over 12 minutes left in the first half, Marquette hit a three to go up 18-11. Over the next 8:05, Xavier's 1-3-1 held Marquette to 0-11/0-3/0-0 shooting with 4 turnovers and just one offensive rebound. A zipping up usually comes at the end of the game, but Xavier went into full body bag mode for an eight-minute stretch in the middle of the first half that allowed them to cruise most of the rest of the way.

Ed is back! He announced himself by all but sitting his defender down in the first half, hit a couple of hiccups from the line, but played 25 minutes on the night. He got 15/3/5 with 2 turnovers on 4-8/1-3/6-11 shooting. Tellingly, Coach Mack had him out there late in the game when Marquette was pressing. I don't know if it's possible to press Edmond, but it's not possible for Marquette to do it, and his size and quickness (and 4-4 from the line down the stretch) kept Xavier away from the Golden Eagles at the end.

The Circle of Trust has widened to officially include Kaiser Gates, and the kid has earned it with his defense. He had zero blocks and zero steals today, but he was so active in the middle of the 1-3-1 the Marquette really couldn't crack it with him in there. He finished the night with 5/6/1 on 2-2/0-0/1-2 shooting. He's not going to be good; he is good.

Xavier's bench went for 38/27/6 on 15-21/1-3/11-17 shooting. Some of that is padded by the fact that Sumner didn't start, but even then it illustrates the ridiculous depth this team features. On a day in which Xavier shot 5-22 from behind the arc and turned the ball over 14 times, the team got had everyone ready to step in and fill his respective role, and the end result was a good road win against a team that features one of the best players Xavier will see all year.

That's it from me. We'll be back with the water cooler talking points this evening and the Sunday Conversation on Sunday, so... stay tuned. Drive safely, Xavier fans.