NCAA Basketball: Xavier and UMBC Headline latest Players of the Week

Quincy Olivari - Xavier Musketeers

Olivari is a transfer from the Rice Owls where he was known as a three-point shooter but he was so much more. Xavier fans are finding out what their star guard is all about and that is scoring. He has always been an elite scorer. It's the other things he does that make him the player he is. He is a good defender and he does rebound very well but it is his scoring that continues to get him talked about, and his scoring is what head coach Sean Miller brought him to Xavier for. That skill was on full display over the last week.

In a win over St. John’s the guard scored 23 points on 6-16 shooting, was 4-8 from deep, and 7-7 at the free throw line. The guard was able to add 7 rebounds and 2 assists. That line was already good but when you consider he also grabbed 4 steals and was huge in the win. Olivari went crazy against DePaul. I know it's DePaul but it was a tremendous game. He scored 43 points on 12-20 shooting, 7 of 12 from deep, and 12-12 at the free throw line. He recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds and added 3 assists. Olivari was unbelievable against DePaul he couldn’t miss and it was one of the best performances I had seen from anyone all year.

Olivari is providing the scoring punch for a Xavier team that lost its two best players before the season started. He is showing the rest of the country that he is more than just a scorer. He likely won’t score 43 points again but he is going to score in the 20’s most every night. Olivari is good enough to carry the Musketeers the rest of the year just like he did last week. Congratulations to Olivari and the Xavier program.