Xavier at Creighton: Game preview, TV schedule, prediction

Two of the top Big East teams will square off as the Xavier Musketeers travel to Creighton. Which team will get the win and boost their tournament resume?

TV Listing: Saturday, February 10^th, FOX 2:30 PM ET

Arena: CenturyLink Center, Omaha, Nebraska

Xavier’s quest for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament is beginning to look more realistic. The Musketeers earned an enormous overtime road win against Butler and were led by their star senior Trevon Bluiett. Bluiett scored 26 points and hit six of his nine 3-point attempts in the victory.

This was Xavier’s second consecutive overtime win, the previous one coming in a narrow escape of Georgetown. The Hoyas have had trouble closing games and have blown multiple late-game leads against quality opponents. Despite Georgetown’s competitiveness, losing to them at the Cintas Center would have been devastating. Bluiett saved the day once again with his 31-point effort.

Purdue and Auburn are two of Xavier’s biggest competitors for a spot on the top line, but both suffered home losses earlier this week. Xavier will look to extend the gap between themselves and their competitors with a win over Creighton in Omaha. If Bluiett continues to play at his current level, it will be awfully hard to pick against Xavier even though Creighton is undefeated at home.

The Musketeers dominated the first matchup against Creighton and won by 22 points even though the Bluejays were at full strength. Creighton’s star guard Khyri Thomas was held to just two points on 0-8 shooting, which was an aberration. Look for Thomas to rebound from that poor performance and contribute with his scoring and elite defensive ability.

Creighton has only beaten the Big East bottom feeders since the injury to Martin Krampelj and a win over Xavier could make them seem like a more legitimate threat. The Bluejays avoided disaster by sneaking past DePaul on Wednesday night in a one-point victory. A loss to DePaul would have been a major black eye on a resume that has no bad losses up to this point.

The Bluejays’ have a built a strong resume and they are likely to return to the NCAA Tournament but knocking off Xavier would go a long way in terms of seeding. Creighton guard Marcus Foster has played exceptionally well throughout the season and is averaging 20.3ppg.

Creighton’s offense relies heavily on Foster and Thomas, but players like Davion Mintz, Ronnie Harrell, and Toby Hegner need to hit shots. Mintz is a steady floor general who does not look to create for himself very often but he will need to be a willing shooter when the defense gives him space.

Harrell is a small ball power forward who has improved considerably over the past year. He also needs to stay aggressive, especially when playing in the middle of the zone on offense. Lastly, Hegner is a senior stretch five who can pull opposing bigs away from the basket. He has scored in double figures in five of his last six games but can be a defensive liability as he struggles to defend physical big men.

Hegner will have his hands full on the defensive end as Kerem Kanter has been playing as well as any big man in the conference. Kanter is extremely skilled offensively and has range that extends beyond the 3-point line. He had a huge game against Butler and hit a crucial pull-up jumper late in that game.

Xavier’s second-best player, JP Macura, has been mired in a recent shooting slump and he needs to play to his capabilities if Xavier wants a top seed. He has been limited to 7.8ppg over the last four games, which is significantly below his season average (12.4). Macura only attempted two shots against Butler, which is unacceptable for a player of his caliber, even when he is in a prolonged funk.

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However, the biggest X-factor for Xavier is their promising freshman wing Naji Marshall. Marshall is a long and athletic 6’7’’ wing who can put the ball on the floor and shoot from three. He had 15 points in the Butler win, which included a huge 3-pointer to give Xavier the lead late in the game. If Marshall can continue his quality play, Xavier will have a great shot at pulling off a second straight road win.

Prediction: Xavier 80, Creighton 78

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