Xavier men’s basketball is 2-0 for the 18th consecutive season but the Muskies’ narrow home wins over Marist and Le Moyne to open the season didn’t instill a lot of confidence for the rest of the year with a slew of tougher opponents on the horizon.
Xavier has dropped nearly 30 spots in KenPom ratings since the season-opener, but the Musketeers were able to scratch and claw in crunch time in back-to-back contests.
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“We can find a way to win. We haven’t blown a team out yet, and we’re probably not gonna have too many blowouts,” guard Roddie Anderson III said. “We’ve got a group that’s willing to fight and willing to play with each other.”
More: ‘We can find a way to win.’ Observations as Xavier holds off Le Moyne for 2-0 start
Xavier will be tested twice this week, beginning with a Monday night, Nov. 10 matchup vs. Santa Clara before the team’s first true road game on Friday, Nov. 14 at Iowa.
Xavier vs. Santa Clara
Tip: Monday, 8:30 p.m., Cintas Center (10,224)
TV/Radio: FS1/700 WLW
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Ratings: Xavier is No. 91 in KenPom and Santa Clara is No. 99.
History: All-time series is tied, 1-1. This is the first matchup in nearly 63 years, since Santa Clara’s 69-66 over Xavier at Schmidt Fieldhouse in Jan. 1963.
Santa Clara Broncos scouting report
Record: 2-0
Head coach: Herb Sendek (163-120 at Santa Clara, 10th season)
Offense: 81 ppg
Defense: 60 ppg
Overview: Santa Clara hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since Steve Nash led the Broncos to a first-round upset of Maryland in 1996, but Herb Sendek’s group has won 20-plus games in four consecutive years and in five straight full seasons (12-8 during abbreviated 2020-21 campaign).
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Following a 30-point win in the season-opener over Humboldt State, Santa Clara pulled away from McNeese State Nov. 7 for a 79-67 victory. Santa Clara shot just 39.4%, went 15-of-25 at the free-throw line and committed 15 turnovers against McNeese State but the Broncos buried 12 3-pointers to move to 2-0.
Herb Sendek (right) is in his 10th season as the head men’s basketball coach at Santa Clara. He previously served as the head coach at Miami Ohio, NC State and Arizona State.
Projected lineup
(Pos., Height, Stats)
Brenton Knapper (G, 6’0”, 6 ppg)
Christian Hammond (G, 6’4”, 12.5 ppg)
Jake Ensminger (G, 6’9”, 11.5 ppg)
Elijah Mahl (F, 6’7”, 16.5 ppg)
Allen Graves (F, 6’9”, 6.5 ppg)
Xavier head coach Richard Pitino on 2-0 start: “We’re gonna be in a lot of close games this year and our guys are gonna learn from all of them.”
Xavier Musketeers scouting report
Record: 2-0
Head coach: Richard Pitino (2-0 at Xavier, first season)
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Offense: 70 ppg
Defense: 65.5 ppg
Projected lineup
(Pos., Height, Stats)
Roddie Anderson III (G, 6’3”, 11 ppg)
Malik Messina-Moore (G, 6’5”, 16.5 ppg)
Tre Carroll (F, 6’8”, 11 ppg)
Filip Borovicanin (F, 6’9”, 3 ppg)
Anthony Robinson (F, 6’10”, 4 ppg)
Players to watch
Tre Carroll
Xavier is still waiting for Carroll’s breakout game. The Florida Atlantic transfer has turned in back-to-back 11-point outings, but he’s just 8-of-25 from the field and went 2-of-9 from inside the arc against Le Moyne.
“He (Carroll) can score any way possible,” Pitino said. “We’d love to see him get to the foul line a little bit more. Overall, we talk mostly about the defensive side with him. Offensively, I don’t worry about him. He’s got all of the tools.”
Xavier forward Tre Carroll (12) was just 4-of-11 from the field against Le Moyne but did make both of his three-point attempts.
Anthony Robinson
Xavier is also lacking production down low at the center position between Robinson and backups Pape N’Diaye and Jovan Milicevic. Robinson hasn’t factored much in the offense with two made fields in two games and he’s grabbed just nine rebounds in 51 combined minutes.
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Xavier’s big men did help with seals to help clear lanes to the basket for driving guards against Le Moyne, as Pitino pointed out postgame.
“I think they’re both a work in progress,” Pitino said of Robinson and Diaye.
Against a Santa Clara squad that creates second-chance opportunities at the nation’s highest rate, Robinson and company will need to make their mark on the glass.
Santa Clara’s Thierry Darlan previously played in the NBA’s G-League before being granted eligibility and joining the Broncos.
Thierry Darlan
NBA scouts will be at Cintas Center to see Darlan, who was granted eligibility after previously playing in the NBA’s G-League.
In two games off the bench, the 6-foot-8 junior guard has combined for 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting. He’s 3-of-9 from three-point range and had a 13-point, 13-rebound double-double in the Broncos’ win over Humboldt State.
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Keys to a Xavier victory over Santa Clara
Xavier must win the boards against Broncos
Xavier has lost the rebounding battle in both games this season by the same margin (33-31). You can manage that in close wins in buy games against Marist and Le Moyne, but Santa Clara is a different story with the way the Broncos attack the glass. Santa Clara has grabbed 47 rebounds in both of its games thus far and rank No. 1 in the nation in offensive rebounding percentage (56.8%).
The Broncos have struggled shooting the ball (No. 199 in effective field goal percentage) but they’re getting multiple cracks at it on each possession. Against McNeese State, Santa Clara grabbed 25 offensive rebounds to offset a poor shooting night overall.
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Xavier needs to turn defense into offense
If you can choose a positive metric from Xavier’s 2-0 starts it would be the turnover department, albeit a poor second-half against Marist in terms of ball security. Xavier is just outside the top 100 in turnover percentage offensively and rank No. 19 in the nation in forcing turnovers.
Xavier guard Roddie Anderson III (0) leads the Musketeers with four steals. He’s also committed just one turnover in 59 minutes over two games.
Meanwhile, Santa Clara’s offensive rebounding prowess can be hampered by the Broncos’ issues with turnovers. Santa Clara coughed it up 15 times against McNeese State and Xavier’s defensive identity is with trapping the ball, getting deflections and making opposing offenses uncomfortable. It’s been boom or bust (Le Moyne shot 52.9% against Xavier but turned it over 18 times), but the Musketeers are capable of generating takeaways and turning them into quick points on the other end.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Xavier Musketeers vs. Santa Clara Broncos basketball preview
