Going to DePaul has been something of an odd stumbling block for Xavier recently. It was again this year, as the Musketeers went to Chicago and hamstrung themselves with foul trouble before eventually dropping the game. X course corrected soon after, beating Georgetown and Providence and looking to hit something of a stride. Now, with DePaul coming to the Cintas, those two wins look more dead cat bounce than resurgence as Xavier has three straight. Two of those were heartbreakers, one was a blowout that they also led by double digits in the second half.
DePaul has taken their win against Xavier and parlayed it into a 4-6 Big East record. They’re better under Chris Holtmann, but by no means have they done anything close to turn a corner. They’ve beaten Georgetown, Marquette, and Seton Hall and dropped games to UConn, Butler, and Georgetown. That’s about as middle of the road as you can get.
What isn’t middle of the road is DePaul’s offense. In fact, it is terrible. It is even worse than Seton Hall’s. Of course, Seton Hall just scored 56 in a half against Xavier, so take all this with enough salt to clot a wound. DePaul is a below average shooting team plagued by turnover problems that also doesn’t get on the offensive glass very well. They are 14th in the nation in assist rate and do shoot their free throws pretty well.
Defensively, the Blue Demons are excellent defending inside the paint and ride that to 61st overall in defense. They’re decent at turning teams over and don’t allow a great deal of three point attempts. Those numbers have been slightly better in conference play. They aren’t great on the defensive glass either. Overall, they are just a slightly above average defense that gets its value from interior presence.
Starting matchups
Layden Blocker
Point Guard
All Wright
Junior
Class
Sophomore
6’2″, 195
Measurements
6’3″, 190
12/2.5/3.7
Game line
7.3/1.9/2.2
38.9/33.3/83.1
Shooting line
47/45.6/79.2
Blocker dropped an ultra-efficient 18/1/4 on 5-10 shooting in the first iteration of this matchup. On the year he hasn’t been that special on offense, but he guards well and has been an excellent distributor in league play. His star turn against Xavier was his second-highest scoring output on the season and highest career ORtg; what a blessing that we got to witness it.
RJ Smith
Shooting Guard
Malik Messina-Moore
Junior
Class
Senior
6’3″, 195
Measurements
6’5″, 200
8/2.8/2.4
Game line
10.7/2.8/3.9
40.6/36.9/76.3
Shooting line
38/33/76.3
Smith is a typical one-dimensional shooter. He doesn’t board, distribute, defend, or score in volume, but he is going to get his shots up from deep and he can be dangerous if left unattended (much like a gas stove in that regard). In addition to being a career 38% shooter from beyond the arc, he has also never had a game more successful from the line than his 4-4 in the home leg against X.
CJ Gunn
Small Forward
Tre Carroll
Senior
Class
Senior
6’7″, 200
Measurements
6’8″, 235
14.3/3.5/1.9
Game line
18.2/5.6/2.7
43.8/34.6/75.4
Shooting line
51.2/36/64.9
Maybe it’s just me, but it feels like this guy has been in school forever. He hasn’t (I checked), but he dropped 22 on X last time out and put up 32 (albeit in twice as many games) against the Muskies last year. He’s a volume scorer who is top-5 in the league in shots percentage. He’s a versatile defender and rebounds okay, but he’s on the team to get buckets. He can score from all over, though it won’t be especially efficient. Every team needs a guy to shoulder the load, and Gunn is that for DePaul.
Théo Pierre-Justin
Power Forward
Filip Borovicanin
Sophomore
Class
Senior
6’10”, 215
Measurements
6’9″, 227
3.8/2.4/1.1
Game line
9.7/8/4.6
38.7/38.9/61.1
Shooting line
44.1/32.4/85
Pierre-Justin got three minutes against Xavier at DePaul and did almost exactly nothing with them. Four weeks later, he has started the last four games and is averaging 20 minutes of play in the last five. In that time, he’s an eye-popping 9-15 from beyond the arc and has gathered 13 total rebounds. Throw in 8 dimes to just 3 turnovers and a lone blocked shot and he has the stats of a man a foot shorter.
NJ Benson
Center
Jovan Milicevic
Senior
Class
Sophomore
6’8″, 235
Measurements
6’10”, 241
10/7/1.4
Game line
11.7/4/1.3
60.7/0/48.5
Shooting line
44.1/41.6/70.5
Bruiser, can’t shoot free throws, bothers me for reasons I can’t quite articulate. Benson rebounds really well at both ends, defends without fouling too much, and has one more made D1 three than I do. Like Gunn, he’s a guy who it feels like we’ve been seeing forever; it won’t break my heart to see the back of either of them.
– Does Xavier have another fight back in them? The first three game losing streak ended and Xavier bounced back with two good wins. Even that one, grim as it was, wasn’t the series of gut punches that this losing streak has been. The Musketeers will need a lot of resilience to get off the mat and fight again. They’ve done it so far, but surely this is starting to wear.
– Can Richard Pitino fix things? That first question dovetails nicely into this one. For Xavier to win, they need to quit doing the things that beat them. Tre Carroll needs to quit driving into four guys, All Wright needs to quit driving into three guys, Roddie Anderson needs to quit driving… Maybe the team just needs to quit running into blind alleys with the ball. Speaking of alleys, Jovan Milicevic needs to quit being a back alley brawler and stay on the court.
– Which style wins? This is something of a trick question, because these teams play similarly. They both play quickly, move the ball, and are susceptible to ball movement. Xavier is just the style cranked up to 11. When it works, it is devastating. When it doesn’t, it’s the last half Xavier played.
– Win the rebounding battle: Xavier is a good rebounding team that occasionally has terrible rebounding games. Your guess is as good as mine as to why that is, but in this one they should have the advantage.
– Keep Tre hot: Tre Carroll had 22 in the first half against Seton Hall and then none in 12 minutes in the second half. His own propensity for slapping people played into that, to be sure, but Xavier couldn’t find an effective way to get him the ball. Carroll managed only three shots and never got back into anything resembling a rhythym.
– Find a way: DePaul isn’t terribly good. Xavier absolutely has to find a way to get this game won. Moving into the top five may be a pipe dream, but there is still plenty to play for, not least pride.
