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Xavier Musketeers (15-1, 3-0)
| Player | MP | FG% | 3P% | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trevon Bluiett | 33.0 | .462 | .418 | .885 | 5.7 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 19.8 |
| J.P. Macura | 28.3 | .493 | .389 | .855 | 4.1 | 3.1 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 13.3 |
| Kaiser Gates | 26.7 | .427 | .438 | .800 | 5.7 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 9.4 |
| Tyrique Jones | 18.0 | .686 | .540 | 5.9 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 9.1 | |
| Quentin Goodin | 27.8 | .442 | .053 | .867 | 2.6 | 5.7 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 8.3 |
| Kerem Kanter | 14.6 | .523 | .385 | .825 | 5.1 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 8.3 |
| Sean O'Mara | 15.6 | .686 | .861 | 3.4 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 7.9 | |
| Naji Marshall | 17.9 | .603 | .417 | .659 | 3.4 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 7.6 |
| Paul Scruggs | 16.2 | .407 | .111 | .667 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 3.9 |
| Elias Harden | 9.1 | .273 | .200 | 1.000 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.9 |
Providence Friars (10-6, 1-2)
| Player | MP | FG% | 3P% | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rodney Bullock | 32.6 | .452 | .354 | .732 | 6.7 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 16.9 |
| Alpha Diallo | 26.8 | .517 | .250 | .792 | 5.9 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 3.2 | 11.2 |
| Kyron Cartwright | 27.2 | .452 | .465 | .795 | 3.0 | 6.1 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 2.9 | 1.4 | 10.3 |
| Jalen Lindsey | 31.9 | .457 | .487 | .682 | 4.0 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 9.3 |
| Nate Watson | 15.6 | .614 | .681 | 2.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 2.4 | 8.4 | |
| Isaiah Jackson | 17.5 | .387 | .400 | .750 | 2.9 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 6.3 |
| Makai Ashton-Langford | 19.4 | .376 | .105 | .472 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 6.1 |
| Maliek White | 16.2 | .529 | .474 | .769 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 6.1 |
| Kalif Young | 18.3 | .548 | .476 | 4.1 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 5.5 | |
| Drew Edwards | 13.6 | .367 | .158 | .824 | 2.6 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 3.3 |
Fox Sports Stream
Muskies at Friars in 12 hours. Always a war at the Dunk. If you're not in Providence here's all you need to know #XavierNation!! #GameDayGuide pic.twitter.com/6IrUyswhbC
— Chris Mack (@CoachChrisMack) January 6, 2018
Three Keys:
- Pound it inside: Providence has size and they block a decent amount of shots, but they surrender far more points (51%) of their points inside than those numbers would suggest. Tyrique, Kerem Kanter, and especially Sean O'Mara should find room to play in the paint.
- Make the Friars shoot outside: Providence is effective from deep, but they would much rather not shoot the ball from outside. 39% of their attempts and only 30% of their points coming from behind the arc. Xavier is going to pack it in and dare the Friars to Arizona State them out of the zone or the packline. Sticking with that will make Ed Cooley adjust his strategy mid-game.
- Stay switched on: The Musketeers played a full game against Marquette their last road game, but they've developed a rather ugly habit of playing about 30 minutes of most contests recently. Even in the win over Butler, they rather obviously ran backwards through the gears as the game reached its denouement. Doing that on the road just invites trouble.