Big East Championshio game

[muskieman]

#1 Seed Marquette vs. #2 Xavier Not UConn like everyone said, Not Creighton like everyone said the best vs. the best.

Time to show the experts and the rest of the Big East that the MSG is Xavier's second home court Marquette is a good to great team, but X can do it if they play as they did against Creighton.

ZIP EM UP

I WANT THE HARDWARE...BRING HOME THE TROPHY

[pdxmuskie]

Ucon is a better matchup for X but if we bring the defensive effort from last game and play well offensively, X will get the win. Would love to see X keep the momentum going into the NCAA tournament. This team is special when they play complete games. They have struggled to maintain intensity and focus for a full 40 minutes but they did in the semi final so maybe this is now a team on a mission.

I'm guessing they are now essentially a lock for a 4 seed with upside for a 3 with preferential location if they get the BE championship.

[yellow20xd]

Go X!... Dan

[Xavier2005]

win for X we all hope, but. I think we can say they have MET or exceeded our expectations for this year...so far. To win the BE tournament would be great. But the BIG prizes are in the March Madness....Elite 8 and or a FF.

[muskieman]

Ucon is a better matchup for X but if we bring the defensive effort from last game and play well offensively, X will get the win. Would love to see X keep the momentum going into the NCAA tournament. This team is special when they play complete games. They have struggled to maintain intensity and focus for a full 40 minutes but they did in the semi final so maybe this is now a team on a mission.

I'm guessing they are now essentially a lock for a 4 seed with upside for a 3 with preferential location if they get the BE championship.

I agree with the seeding and the comments on the game to come. I hope that the third-day fatigue does not show up. I understand that you want the best teams in prime time, but semi-final games could be a little earlier. I hope they are looking at last year and see what it took to win the NIT and have the same intensity they had when they play Marquette.

[Kevin Reilly]

The Big East tournament is ours. Marquette was lucky to beat us last time. The turnovers killed us. I think we have the better team and coach. If we take care of the ball and get on the boards we will win. We are coming on. The team played hard the whole game last night and we need the same 40 minute effort. Get Claude and Edwards in there early. Go X

[muskieman]

Before last night's TeamRankings had X as only a 43.8% chance of beating Creighton to get to the Championship game and only an 18% chance of winning the Championship game. Today they have X a 52.4% chance of winning the Championship.

TeamRankings also projects the Musketeers as a 3 seed with a 49% chance to make the Sweet Sixteen and an 11% chance to reach the Final Four. With a 2% chance to win the tile up from 1% I like the trend.

• Stat ................. XAV adv MARQ
  Off Efficiency .... 1.116 .... 1.111
  Effective FG % ..... 56.2%...... 56.5%
  Turnovers/Play ..... 15.2% ..... 13.7%
  Off Rebound % ........ 30.0% ...... 24.0%
  FTA/FGA ............ 0.312 ......... 0.271
  Points/Game ......... 82.3 ..... 80.4
  Avg Score Margin ....... +8.0 ...... +9.2

• Xavier vs Marquette Offensive Efficiency
  Stat ......................XAV adv MARQ
  Possessions/Gm .... 73.8 .....72.3
  Off Efficiency .....1.116 ....1.111
  Effective FG % ..... 56.2% ....56.5%
  Two Point Rate .... 68.8% .....58.2%
  Three Point Rate ... 31.3%.....41.8%
  FTA/Play..........23.0% .....20.7%
  Two Point %..... 54.4% ,,,,59.2%
  Three Point %.... 40.0%.....35.1%
  Free Throw % .... 72.0%......71.6%
  Points (2 pters)..... 45.7 ......41.9
  Points (3 pters)..... 22.9 ......26.7
  Off Rebound %......30.0% .......24.0%
  Def Rebound %.... 76.7%.....69.3%
  Block % .........5.2% ......5.4%
  Steals/Play ...... 8.2% .....11.7%
  Turnovers/Play.... 15.2%....13.7%
  Personal Fouls/Play .... 19.5%....20.0%
  Assists/FGM ..... 0.638 ......0.596
  Xavier vs Marquette Defensive Efficiency
  Stat...................... XAV adv MARQ
  Possessions/Gm........ 73.8 .......72.3
  Def Efficiency........... 1.008.......0.984
  Opp Effective FG %........ 50.7% ......51.5%
  Opp Two Point Rate ..... 66.1% ......62.3%
  Opp Three Point Rate ...... 33.9%......37.7%
  Opp FTA/Play ......... 20.4%...........20.7%
  Opp Two Point % ...... 48.8%...........50.4%
  Opp Three Point %..... 36.2%............35.5%
  Opp Free Throw % ........ 72.0%...........70.4%
  Opp Points (2 pters)....... 39.7 ............36.2
  Opp Points (3 pters)....... 22.6 ............23.1
  Opp Off Rebound %........ 23.3%............30.7%
  Opp Def Rebound %........ 70.0%...........76.0%
  Opp Block % ........... 6.4% ...........5.6%
  Opp Steals/Play............ 8.7% .............2%
  Opp Turnovers/Play.........14.9%............19.8%
  Opp Personal Fouls/Play....21.4%............19.1%
  Opp Assists/FGM........... 0.544............0.585

[Jesseandrippers]

74-68 Muskies (not having Free keeps it from being a 10pt game).

Marquette has overachieved this year. Time to expose it.

[Anti-Homer]

X has been playing with house money even before Zach went down because they already had exceeded expectations by then. Now, they have shown the country that they are legitimate E-8, FF contenders (it's all about matchups) thanks to the great Sean Miller. MQuette has the same potential, and the two games played against each other show that they are virtually identical, thanks to the equally great Shaka Smart. They are both Top 10 teams. The incredible part about it is X lost one of the two best post-scorers in the conference, and still didn't miss a beat. Why? The great Sean Miller.

The game will be decided by these things: Whether they can contain Kolek and hinder hi penetration in the lane, as he is the best facilitator in the game. X can get fat tonight on Hi-Lows because Nunge has a 3-inch, 30 lb advantage. Hunter can also score if he is the one down low. He has shown the ability to score over bigger guys. Lastly, X has to limit turnovers to 12 or fewer. I expect Ochioro (sp) to be aggressive, and try to get Nunge into foul trouble, something X can ill-afford.

Final: X 79, Mquette 76.

[connecticut72]

AH is right on. Those are the 3 keys. Go X beat Marquette and put the Muskies on the map as a 2023 B ball power.