The Xavier Musketeers will play the Texas Longhorns in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday. Tip-off from T-Mobile Center in Kansas City is at 9:45 p.m. ET. The Longhorns are four-point spread favorites and the game total is 149 points.
Xavier (27-9 SU and 19-16-1 ATS) defeated 14-seed Kennesaw State in the first round and 11-seed Pittsburgh in the round of 32. The Musketeers were second in the Big East regular season standings and finished runner-up in the conference tournament.
Texas (28-8 SU and 18-17-1 ATS) beat 15-seed Colgate in the first round and 10-seed Penn State in the second round. The Longhorns finished second in the Big 12 regular season standings and won the conference tournament.
Xavier moved on to the Sweet 16 with its 84-73 victory over Pittsburgh, earning its first trip to the third round of the tournament since 2017. The Musketeers led by 14 points at the half and never surrendered, shooting 47.6 percent from the field and outrebounding the Panthers 44-41. They assisted on 22 of their 30 made field goals. Pitt trailed by as many as 20 points and only led by two, shooting 27-for-70 (38.6%) from the floor, including 6-for-20 (30%) from long distance.
Senior guard Souley Boum paces Xavier in scoring. He averages 16.5 points on 44.2 percent shooting, including 40.8 percent from three-point range. A few other Musketeers to watch are senior forward Zach Freemantle (15.2 PPG and 8.1 RPG), junior guard Colby Jones (15.0 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 4.3 APG), senior forward Jack Nunge (14.1 PPG and 7.7 RPG), and senior guard Adam Kunkel (10.6 PPG).
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pic.twitter.com/3lpjhEveHP— Xavier Basketball (@XavierMBB) March 19, 2023
Xavier averages 82.1 points per game (12th) and shoots 50.0 percent from the floor (3rd) with a 39.8 shooting percentage from deep (5th). It converts 71.7 percent of its free throws (180th) and averages 34.8 rebounds (35th) with a +5.7 rebounding margin. The Musketeers are 7th in schedule-adjusted offensive efficiency, 12th in effective field goal percentage (55.4 eFG%), and 33rd in adjusted tempo, per KenPom.
Xavier surrenders 74.5 points per game on defense (305th), and its opponents shoot 44.3 percent (217th), including 36.1 percent from behind the arc (314th). The Musketeers are 64th in adjusted defensive efficiency and 6th in assist-per-turnover ratio.
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