No. 16 Xavier will try to bounce back from its loss at Butler when it travels to No. 11 Marquette on Wednesday night. The Musketeers had won four of their previous five games, but their loss to Butler dropped them into a tie with Marquette atop the Big East standings. Xavier already picked up an 80-76 win over Marquette at home last month, so it could take a decisive lead in the conference with a victory on Wednesday.
Xavier played an extremely difficult non-conference schedule early in the season, losing to a trio of top-15 teams in November, with all three losses coming by seven points or less. The Musketeers responded with an 11-game winning streak, including each of their first seven Big East games. They have gone 4-3 in their seven games since then, beating two ranked teams while losing to DePaul, Creighton and Butler. Xavier was a 7-point favorite in its 69-67 loss to Butler on Friday, as a late goaltending call was the decisive play in the game. The Musketeers shot just 8 of 14 from the free-throw stripe and hit just 7 of 21 from 3-point range.
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— Xavier Basketball (@XavierMBB) February 14, 2023
They have relied on their hot outside shooting to win games this season, as they have the second-best 3-point percentage (40.1) of any team in college basketball. Their offense ranks fifth in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency and effective field goal percentage ratings. Their weakness has been their free-throw percentage, which ranks just inside the top 200 at 71.8. They are facing a Marquette defense that is No. 229 in field goal percentage, No. 20 in turnover rate and No. 313 in rebounding. Leading scorer Souley Boum (16.1) is expected to play through an ankle injury, but second-leading scorer Zach Freemantle (foot) has missed three straight games and will remain sidelined for at least two more weeks. He had 10 points and eight rebounds in the first meeting with Marquette.
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