The Xavier Musketeers will face the Connecticut Huskies on Sunday at XL Center. Tip-off between the Big East foes is at noon ET.
Xavier (10-9 SU, 12-6 ATS, and 10-8 O/U) lost 85-78 to Creighton on Tuesday. The Musketeers are 4-4 in Big East play this season.
UConn (17-2 SU, 11-8 ATS, and 9-9-1 O/U) beat Villanova 66-65 last Saturday. The Huskies lead the conference with a 7-1 record.
Connecticut beat Xavier 80-75 on January 10. The Huskies shot 54.4 percent from the field and held the Musketeers to 35.9 percent. UConn missed half of its free-throw attempts and was outrebounded 42-30, helping Xavier stick around. Still, the Huskies never relented. They led by as many as 14 points and never trailed by more than one point.
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Xavier's three-game winning streak came to an end on the road at Creighton, as the Musketeers shot only 40.8 percent from the field. The Blue Jays knocked down 28 of their 57 field goals (49.1%), including 11 of their 28 three-point attempts (39.3%). Sophomore guard Desmond Claude led the Musketeers in scoring with 20 points on 7-for-23 shooting.
Xavier scores 76.8 points per game (113th) on 44.2 percent shooting (214th), including 35.1 percent from three-point distance (127th). It converts 73.4 percent of its free-throw attempts (99th) and averages 35.9 rebounds (50th), 16.8 assists (22nd), and 11.6 turnovers (135th) per game.
The Musketeers give up 71.7 points per game (178th) on 40.8 percent shooting (54th), including 32.2 percent from deep (117th), with 33.4 rebounds per game (273rd). Xavier averages 3.9 blocks (98th), 6.7 steals (142nd), and 17.4 fouls (216th) per game.
KenPom ranks Xavier 34th nationally. The Musketeers are 48th in offensive efficiency, 36th in defensive efficiency, and 60th in tempo (schedule-adjusted).
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