Cincinnati vs. Xavier: Who wins the position battles?
Reserves: Cincinnati’s Cane Broome, Tre Scott, Nysier Brooks, Trevor Moore and Keith Williams vs. Xavier’s Sean O’Mara, Naji Marshall, Kerem Kanter, Paul Scruggs and Elias Harden
What makes both benches for these teams so productive is the starting experience they have. Multiple players have spent a good amount of time starting and are now finding ways to make an impact off the bench.
On the Bearcats’ bench lies a former Player of the Year in Sacred Heart transfer Cane Broome. He started three of the first four games at the point guard position, but Mick Cronin felt his scoring abilities would be best served coming off the bench. Trevor Moore is another guy who can shoot it, currently going for 44% deep so far. Other guys like Tre Scott and Nysier Brooks, who already has two starts, continue the great defense Cincinnati plays.
Xavier has experience on the frontcourt, with Green Bay grad transfer Karem Kanter averaging 6.0 ppg in 12 mpg and is more than capable of starting when needed. Senior big man Sean O’Mara is sort of a sixth starter for Xavier, always providing good minutes whenever he takes the court.
But it’s been freshman Naji Marshall who’s been the surprise so far, averaging 8.0 ppg as a quality reserve. If he didn’t play the same position as Bluiett, we’d see a lot more off him.
Both of these benches have a lot to offer and picking between them is a difficult choice. However, there’s more experience and defense along Cincinnati’s side, and no one from either side can light it up like Broome when he’s on.
Edge: Cincinnati
Next: Big East power rankings (Nov. 22-28)
To some degree, these positions can be thrown out the window, because of the nature of this rivalry. It doesn’t matter who’s ranked higher in the polls or even who has the best players, but rather just who has it for that night. There may not be Final Four appearances or championships to the level of UNC-Duke, but the emotions and intensity will be just as evident in the 2017 edition of the Crosstown Shootout.