Xavier beats GW through a Thanksgiving stupor: three takeaways

Xavier is better than GW, and they played like they knew it tonight. Not in a swaggering, taking care of business sort of way, but in a listless, drifting through a routine win sort of way.

The Muskies jumped out 7-0, but an 8-2 GW run cut it to one. Then Xavier got a couple of buckets, then GW crept back in. Xavier pushed out to 14, but GW brought it back to 6. That apparently woke Xavier up, because the Muskies just kind of walked away from there, ending up with a comfortable win and a close cover.

Here's some other thoughts:

Xavier's point guards are top level

I don't think GW's point could dunk. That's not a black mark on the resume of an A10 PG - I remember those days - but Xavier runs out two dudes well over 6' tall that are comfortable playing well above the rim. The Colonials couldn't keep Goodin and Scruggs out of the lane, and that was a huge difference tonight.

JP isn't right

The Muskies agent provocateur wasn't himself for the second game in a row. He has just 8 points on 2-6 shooting in the past two games and hasn't been looking to force the action. I don't know if his back is bothering him or if he's just coming down from the Wisconsin game, but we're going to need Good JP back at some point.

We don't appreciate Sean O'Mara enough

Big Sean contributed a ho-hum 10 and 2 on 5-6 from the floor. Sure you'd love to see him get a few more boards or impact the game more on defense, but... the dude is absurd on the block. His positioning and footwork are top notch, and he's clearly worked his hind end off - almost literally - to add a little bit of explosion to his game. He's just about automatic when X gets him the ball, and he's always working to get into good positions. Good on you, Big Sean.