NCAA Basketball top 25 power rankings: UCLA and Kentucky rise, Kansas falls
By Joey Loose
23. Xavier (15-5)
There are plenty of talented teams in the Big East, with Xavier certainly a number in that collection of talent. The Musketeers had some great performances near the beginning of the season, but have struggled to find their footing in conference play, just as their fellow rivals have in this very tough league. This past week was evidence of that struggle.
Sunday marked a tough one, as Xavier fell at Marquette 75-64. That struggle continued on Wednesday, suffering a home loss 65-62 to Providence. The Musketeers shot the ball poorly and couldn’t do enough to come out on top both times.
Three days later, they put themselves in a massive 17-point hole at the half, but came out strong in the second half, winning 74-64 at Creighton. Paul Scruggs had 18 points and 8 assists in the bounce-back performance for the program, narrowly avoiding a third straight loss.
The Big East is going to continue to be a battle down the stretch. Xavier has already played Villanova twice and caught these last two teams at a hot time, meaning it will get a little bit easier in the coming weeks. Their 5-4 record in the conference is decent at this point, and they have a chance to improve that next week, with very winnable home games against Butler and DePaul, two teams near the bottom of the league.