Agreed on this. I think X is a 4-point favorite on paper, but about a dozen or so favorites already have lost. X did as well as most beating higher seeded teams in the 2000 decade, especially the first E8 run. A team that lost to a dozen+ Q3/Q4 schools beat Purdue. Two seeded Purdue also lost despite being a 14 point favorites.X-lucidity wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 9:40 amAgree with the points made above by ‘Hops & Conn72. That said, Xavier Nation- we are now playing with house money. X is a solid team with many strengths, and yes, some glaring weaknesses especially on the D end. Nunge and Colby need to play up to their pedigree today. Souley should be more confident. In Sean we trust. Let’s enjoy and seize this glorious opportunity.
X is missing a very key piece in Freemantle, so even making the tourney is a credit to SM. The defensive metrics have improved considerably with playing Hunter and Claude a lot more, however. As SM said, Pitt plays a lot like Kennesaw state, but shooting more threes at a higher clip. They also have length in their post position. They have great balance in scoring.
X seemed to play tight in the first game, and I think like most protected seeded teams, the pressure of being expected to win easily is part of the reason. The best defensive halves of the season by the Muskies were in the 2nd halves of the last two games. I think if Pitt starts to beat our subpar starting guards on D on the dribble, X will go zone.
I think X wins by 6-7 in a high scoring game. Then again, two days ago, Pitt slaughtered a favorite who beat Kansas, Texas, and Baylor twice. Today's will be Jones' day.
