No. 11 Xavier picked up its defense the second time around. The Musketeers, who had a sloppy season-opening victory over Lehigh, held Buffalo below 30 points in both halves on Monday en route to a 33-point victory.
Head coach Chris Mack also got his team’s offense going, with three starters scoring in double-digits. J.P. Macura had a game-high 18 points on 4-of-11 shooting, while the pair of Trevon Bluiett and Edmond Summers finished with 13 points apiece.
As for this afternoon’s showdown with Missouri—a team which the Musketeers have defeated in their last three meetings—the biggest key for Xavier is to continue improving, even though it clearly has the advantage in terms of talent, size and depth.
The offense will follow as long as the Musketeers stay locked in defensively and don’t allow any uncontested shots, especially from beyond the arc, where the Tigers went 8-of-16 in Sunday’s season opener against Alabama A&M.
Xavier is priced at +2,500 to win it all this season.
Missouri, as most expected, disposed of Alabama A&M in dominant fashion on Sunday, rolling past them by 55 points.
Frankie Hughes had the game of his life, as he led the team with 23 points, which equaled the school’s record for the highest scoring game by a freshman in his debut. But don’t expect him and the rest of the Tigers, who collectively shot 62.5 percent from the field against the Bulldogs, to have another walk-in-the-park game versus the 11th-ranked Musketeers.
This will be a very tough, yet interesting test for a young Tigers team. Xavier, by far, has immense depth, size and a balanced game that will surely provide different kinds of trouble. The onus is on Missouri to work as hard as possible on both sides of the court, regardless of what the scoreboard indicates.
The Tigers have never beaten Xavier since 2001; don’t expect that to change.
