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Big East Basketball Power Rankings: Creighton, Georgetown emerging

By Lukas Harkins

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 21: Mac McClung #2 of the Georgetown Hoyas reacts after a three pointer during the first half of the game against the Texas Longhorns at Madison Square Garden on November 21, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 21: Mac McClung #2 of the Georgetown Hoyas reacts after a three pointer during the first half of the game against the Texas Longhorns at Madison Square Garden on November 21, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /
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CINCINNATI, OHIO – DECEMBER 04: Scruggs of the Musketeers dribbles. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OHIO – DECEMBER 04: Scruggs of the Musketeers dribbles. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

. Xavier Musketeers. 7. player. 480. .

Xavier suffered a disappointing road loss to Wake Forest and then needed to make a bit of a second-half comeback to defeat Western Carolina (wound up winning by 13 still) during this past week. While the Musketeers still sit at 10-2 and No. 33 on KenPom, they just haven’t been all that impressive this season.

I do believe that they are probably better than this seventh-ranked spot in the Big East rankings this week, but they are yet to really prove that on the floor. They are still shooting just 29.3% from three on the season and it is really difficult for their offense to thrive under those circumstances.

As I mentioned last week, though, Xavier is a legitimate team with the ability to beat anyone in the country thanks to its strong defense. The Musketeers feature plenty of versatile defenders and limit ball-movement better than most teams. They rank 25th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency as a result and should continue to thrive on that end of the floor.

The key to reaching their potential as a contender in the conference will be improving offensively, particularly from beyond the arc.

Looking ahead, Xavier’s next two games both post major challenges as the team will be tasked with going on the road to face TCU and Villanova. These contests should allow fans to learn more about this team as they currently rank 219th in the country in away-from-home-performance (per Haslametrics). Defense travels and that mantra will need to evident in the coming weeks.

This should be an NCAA Tournament team and will likely be the team that rises up these rankings most between now and the end of the season.

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