First, the news:
Xavier beat Georgia in closed scrimmage. Best players for X were Bluiett and Macura, Maten stood out for Bulldogs, per source.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) October 29, 2016
Let’s try to add a little context to that report. Georgia is a solid team. They finished last year 71st in the KenPom behind a decent offense and a good defense. This year they’re starting the season at 58th, having added a couple of four-star shooting guards without suffering really significant losses.
Georgia really let teams wail away from beyond the arc, so it’s not a huge surprise to see Trevon and JP lead the way with Myles still out. It’s hard to draw too many conclusions from an 140-character report, but this kind of confirms what I think we were all suspecting about this Xavier team.
The “Maten” that excelled for Georgia is Yante Maten, a 6’8” 240-pound junior. He was an efficient scorer and dominant rebounder for the Bulldogs last year, so it’s not surprising that he’d do well. Does this mean Gaston was overmatched, or did Maten just eat? I don’t know.
Xavier played the Bulldogs at a neutral site. This is a win we’d be happy with in December, so there’s no reason not to be encouraged by it right now.