The Xavier Musketeers came up short in their bid to win the Big East tournament, but they have a bigger goal to now: the national championship. There’s a long way to go, though, and the Musketeers journey begins this Friday against the Weber State Wildcats, who are known more for producing Damian Lillard than making trips to the Big Dance.
Xavier has defeated a first-ranked team this season. So what’s there to wobble the knees of the Musketeers when they go up against 15-seed Weber State in the first round of the national tournament this Friday? Perhaps there’s none, as the Musketeers have advantages in a lot of aspects over the Wildcats.
For one, the Musketeers boast a much-polished frontline. They have a trio of 6-10 forwards led by senior James Farr who’ve had experience in this stage before. Farr is averaging 10.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. He’ll be flanked by bouncy power forward Jalen Reynolds, who should command attention inside the paint.
Farr and Reynolds should be able to dominate the boards too against the smaller frontline of Weber State. Xavier is 12th in the nation with an outstanding average of 40.9 boards per game.
More problems for Weber State: Xavier’s smaller guys. Xavier’s guards can match up well with almost any teams’ backcourt. The tandem of Trevon Bluiett (13.5 PPG) and Edmond Summer (11.3 PPG) can buy baskets in bunches, while Myles Davis (11.1 PPG) completes the Musketeers’ deadly three-guard setup in the starting unit.
Xavier, which is putting up 81.3 points per game, is 5-3 ATS in its last eight games overall.
This isn’t the Big Sky conference tournament anymore, but the Wildcats will continue to live and die with their one-two punch combo of Jeremy Senglin and Joel Bolomboy.
Senglin (18.2 PPG) was on fire during the Wildcats’ last two outings, scoring 31 against North Dakota in the conference tournament semifinals before notching 20 markers in the succeeding victory over Montana in the Big Sky title game. Senglin won’t shy away from hoisting shots from beyond the arc, as he’s averaging 3.1 threes per game on 44.2 percent shooting.
As a team, Weber State is knocking down 8.0 triples a contest. That’s a lot and if Xavier becomes overconfident, Weber State may just get hot from the outside and put the Musketeers in an awkward position of playing a close game against a 13-point underdog.
Bolomboy, meanwhile, is a skilled big man who averages a double-double of 17.2 points and 12.7 rebounds per game. He can stretch the floor too, as he’s hitting 36.5% of his threes on the season.
Weber State gets plenty of free throw shots (24.6 attempts per game) and with Xavier committing 20.2 fouls per game, the opportunity for the Wildcats to score bonus points is going to be there. The Wildcats are shooting just 67.7% from the foul line, however.
Weber State is 3-1-1 ATS in its last five games as an underdog.
