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Xavier v. Utah: game thread, listings, keys to the game

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Xavier Musketeers (7-2)
Per Game Table
Rk Player MP FG% 3P% FT% TRB AST PTS
1 Trevon Bluiett 33.9 .424 .357 .818 5.9 2.6 19.2
2 J.P. Macura 34.7 .378 .288 .943 4.4 3.4 14.7
3 Edmond Sumner 34.8 .459 .227 .698 4.3 4.3 14.7
4 Sean O'Mara 15.7 .609 .750 3.1 0.4 7.2
5 Rashid Gaston 17.8 .533 .536 6.7 0.6 7.0
6 Malcolm Bernard 29.1 .357 .348 .300 4.7 1.1 4.6
7 Quentin Goodin 16.7 .520 .375 .462 1.4 1.7 3.9
8 Kaiser Gates 15.0 .250 .214 .000 3.8 0.0 2.8
9 Tyrique Jones 11.3 .435 .250 4.0 0.3 2.4
10 Leighton Schrand 1.0 1.000 0.0 0.0 1.0
11 Tim Stainbrook 3.3 .500 .500 0.3 0.3 1.0
12 Cullen Barr 1.0 .000 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0
13 Alex Bergen 0.8 0.0 0.0 0.0
14 Conor Peterson 1.0 0.7 0.0 0.0
Provided by CBB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 12/10/2016.
v.
Utah Utes (6-1)
Per Game Table
Rk Player MP FG% 3P% FT% TRB AST PTS
1 Kyle Kuzma 30.9 .452 .182 .692 11.0 3.3 16.4
2 Lorenzo Bonam 28.4 .588 .250 .826 3.6 2.4 15.0
3 JoJo Zamora 24.1 .431 .370 .833 1.9 1.9 11.4
4 Tyler Rawson 24.4 .519 .350 .850 7.1 2.4 11.1
5 Devon Daniels 23.0 .568 .143 .760 5.3 2.6 10.0
6 Parker Van Dyke 24.6 .407 .433 .400 2.7 1.7 8.4
7 Jayce Johnson 15.4 .458 .550 7.3 0.4 4.7
8 Jake Connor 9.2 .500 .417 .000 0.2 0.6 3.8
9 Gabe Bealer 12.3 .381 .286 1.000 2.1 0.4 3.1
10 Jakub Jokl 8.3 1.000 .750 2.7 0.3 2.3
11 Beau Rydalch 8.3 .167 .000 1.000 2.0 0.3 1.3
12 Marc Reininger 5.3 .500 0.3 0.0 0.5
Provided by CBB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 12/10/2016.

Three Keys:

- Get production from two of three post players: Xavier has been getting production from one of O'Mara, Jones, and Gaston pretty consistently. Against good teams, that's not enough. Rashid going for 14/11/0 can't be accompanied by a grand total of the 13 minutes from the other two. O'Mara scoring eight on seven shots can't come with a 1-5 from Gaston and nothing from Tyrique. Two of the three need to show up in the same game.

- Find a second scorer: Right now Trevon Bluiett is option one. That's good, and he's a great option one for any team in college ball. Who is Xavier's second option right now? JP is mired in 5-25 shooting slump, Ed Sumner's offensive numbers are down across the board, and Sean O'Mara is efficient one game, invisible the next. Utah can shut down some offenses, X needs to find a second guy who can put the thing in the hoop.

- Rotate: This one lands more on the coaching staff and the bench players. Right now, only 95 players in the nation play more than Sumner, and Trevon and JP are both logging 34+ minutes. This has shown in the last two games, when Xavier has mentally and physically tired in the second half and thrown leads away. Quentin Goodin, Tyrique Jones, or Kaiser Gates needs to play some long and quality minutes to get the Big Three a rest.