Xavier Basketball: Musketeers’ season spiraling out of control

By Carmine Carcieri | Mar 2, 2017

Mar 1, 2017; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Xavier Musketeers head coach Chris Mack reacts during the second half against the Marquette Golden Eagles at the Cintas Center. Marquette won 95-84. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports /

Xavier basketball has lost six straight games and is headed straight for the NCAA Tournament bubble.

The Big East Conference is projected to get as many as seven teams into the 2017 NCAA Tournament. While Marquette, Seton Hall, and Providence still have work to do, these teams are headed in the proper direction and should put their dancing shoes on barring any bad losses over the next two weeks.

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The Xavier Musketeers are a different story.

In early February, Chris Mack’s team was ranked inside the top 25 and was considered one of the best teams in the Big East. Even without Edmond Sumner (who went down with a torn ACL at St. John’s), the Musketeers won three straight games over Seton Hall, Creighton in Omaha and DePaul. Maybe they would survive without their 6’6″ point guard and one of the leaders of their roster.

However, suddenly, the Musketeers could easily miss the NCAA Tournament. For the first time since 1981-82, Xavier has lost six straight games. And it’s not like their schedule has been daunting. Sure, they lost to heavyweights, Villanova and Butler, but they also were defeated by fellow bubble teams, Providence, Marquette and Seton Hall.

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The Musketeers have played so poorly over the last few weeks that if the season were to end today they would be playing on the first night of the Big East Tournament as a seven-seed facing off against the worst team in the conference, DePaul.

Xavier has forgotten how to shoot the three-ball (something that was a problem during the non-conference) and their defense has been absolutely terrible in the last two games, Marquette and Butler, giving up an average of 91.5 points.

Most importantly, they look lost without Sumner. Freshman Quentin Goodin has shown flashes as a passer and scorer, but he’s nowhere near as impactful as Sumner was. Sumner’s size, athleticism, and quick first step created match-up problems defensively and took pressure off of Trevon Bluiett and J.P. Macura (who is much better as a third option rather than a second).

The Musketeers are currently a member of Joe Lunardi’s ‘Last Four In’, but with two potential games coming up against DePaul (one on the road) and one possibly at Madison Square Garden, Mack’s squad could send themselves packing for the NIT if they don’t capture both.

It also will be interesting to see how the committee views Xavier in the big picture. Do they keep them out of the field regardless of if they beat DePaul twice because of how their season is about to end? Their best win of the season (at Creighton) actually came without their starting point guard, but honestly, other than that, the Musketeers have a very thin resume that won’t help their case on Selection Sunday.

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It’s do-or-die time for X. How will they react to the pressure? We will find out over the next two weeks. The Big East Tournament should be awfully fun.