Scouting report, keys to victory for Xavier vs. Saint Francis

The last time Xavier men’s basketball had a two-game winning streak, it came with more questions than answers after uninspiring wins over Marist and Le Moyne to start the year. Xavier followed those victories with back-to-back 19-point losses.

Xavier’s current two-game winning streak has a completely different feeling. The Musketeers have won three of their last four games, with its only loss coming in the final seconds to Georgia in the Charleston Classic.

Riding high off a win over West Virginia, Xavier handled its business in its return to Cintas Center Nov. 28 with a comfortable win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Xavier head coach Richard Pitino on 88-67 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi: “Confidence is just growing, growing and growing. Handled on our business tonight. Still gotta get better on the defensive side toughness-wise but certainly did a lot of great things.”

More: Takeaways from Xavier’s win over Texas A&M-CC

“Confidence is just growing, growing and growing,” Xavier head coach Richard Pitino said.

Confidence is everything for a young team. Xavier will try to push its winning streak to three when Saint Francis comes to town Dec. 1 in the Musketeers’ final tuneup for the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout.

Tip: 7 p.m., Monday, Dec. 1, at Cintas Center (10,224)

TV/Radio: truTV/55KRC

Ratings: Xavier is No. 82 in KenPom and Saint Francis is No. 356.

History: Xavier is 5-4 all-time against Saint Francis. This is the first meeting since the 1995-96 season-opener, which Xavier won at Cincinnati Gardens, 88-61, behind a defense that forced 24 turnovers and 14 points from Kevin Carr.

Luke McConnell is in his first season as the head coach at Saint Francis.

Saint Francis Red Flash scouting report

Record: 1-6

Head coach: Luke McConnell (1-6 at Saint Francis, first season)

Offense: 66.1 ppg

Defense: 83.9 ppg

Overview: Luke McConnell was named Saint Francis’ next head in March after Rob Krimmel announced his retirement following a trip to the NCAA Tournament last season. McConnell’s father, Tom, was the head coach of St. Francis when the Red Flash beat Xavier at home in 1994.

In its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1991, Saint Francis lost in the First Four at UD Arena to Alabama State one day before Xavier beat Texas.

McConnell got his first win as a head coach Nov. 29 when Saint Francis pummeled Franciscan University, 85-60. That’s been the highlight of the year for a squad that started the year with six losses to DI teams with only one decided by single digits (74-66 to Mount St. Mary’s).

In its only matchups against high-major opponents, Saint Francis started the year as a sacrificial lamb against Oklahoma (102-66) and TCU (104-63).

Leading scorer Skylar Wicks did not play in the win over Franciscan. The Red Flash shot 53% from the field, got to the free-throw line 28 times and had three starters in double figures, led by Gestin Liberis (16 points).

Projected lineup

(Pos., Height, Stats)

Ahmad Harrison (G, 6’1″, 7.7 ppg)

Zion Russell (G, 6’2″, 11.3 ppg)

Victor Payne (G, 6’4″, 5.7 ppg)

Brandon Russell (G, 6’5″, 3.7 ppg)

Gestin Liberis (F, 6’9″, 4.7 ppg)

Xavier forward Tre Carroll (12) has scored in double figures in every game this season.

Xavier Musketeers scouting report

Record: 5-3

Head coach: Richard Pitino (5-3 at Xavier, first season)

Offense: 76.5 ppg

Defense: 72.6 ppg

Projected starters

(Pos., Height, Stats)

All Wright (G, 6’3″, 10.9 ppg)

Malik Messina-Moore (G, 6’5″,7.3 ppg)

Tre Carroll (F, 6’8″, 15.3 ppg)

Filip Borovicanin (F, 6’9″, 8.4 ppg)

Jovan Milicevic (F, 6’10”, 13.8 ppg)

Players to watch

Filip Borovicanin

Borovicanin is coming off arguably his best performance as a Musketeer despite attempting just six shots, his fewest since Nov. 6. Borovicanin set a new career-high with 15 rebounds (his third double-digit performance on the boards this season).

He recorded his second double-double of the year (10 points) while also adding five assists, two blocks and two steals.

“The message was to play with more force and Filip (Borovicanin) certainly did that,” Pitino said.

Borovicanin is averaging 10.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists over the last five games.

“I’m just trying to embrace my physicality,” Borovicanin said. “I think our team needs that I think I’m just trying to do anything on the court to help our team win, whether it’s passing the ball, getting rebounds, whatever it is.”

Anthony Robinson

Robinson turned in his best performance of the season by a mile in Xavier’s win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Virginia transfer had 12 points and 8 rebounds (both season-highs) over 19 minutes.

Robinson was slated as Xavier’s starting center to begin the year but had played just 25 total minutes over the previous four games. He was 5-of-7 shooting against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi after making just three total field goals over the first seven contests.

“When you have a game like this where you can get him (Robinson) in, Jovan (Milicevic) was in foul trouble, it just builds confidence for him,” Pitino said.

Keys to a Xavier victory over Saint Francis

Don’t look ahead to Crosstown Shootout

The term “trap game” comes to mind in this matchup with UC looming on the schedule, but Xavier has done well in this spot historically. Xavier has lost its game prior to the Crosstown Shootout just once over the last 10 years.

KenPom gives Xavier a 99% chance of winning this game with a projected final score of 87-62. Simply put, this is the worst opponent remaining on Xavier’s schedule. Overall, Saint Francis is the 10th-worst team in the nation in KenPom (No. 356) with a defense (No. 325 in efficiency) that is just slightly better than its offense (No. 357 in efficiency). Xavier needs to leave little doubt (like it did vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) and build more confidence for when the Bearcats come to Cintas Center.

Xavier guard Malik Messina-Moore made three field goals against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, his most in a game since Nov. 6. He finished with nine points and five assists.

Xavier needs to get its 2s against Saint Francis

On a team sheet filled with poor analytics, Saint Francis ranks No. 364 in the nation in defending 2-point shots. If there was ever a matchup where Xavier could finally get to the rim, it’s this one. Xavier is a top 25 three-point shooting team but ranks No. 351 in shooting from inside the arc.

Xavier has hit double-digit 3-pointers in four consecutive games, but what happens on a cold shooting night?

“The shots are not always gonna fall,” Pitino said when asked about Xavier’s 3-point prowess. “The 3-point line has got to be a big part of this identity. We know that. Then, can we get to the free-throw line? Can we get more 2s?”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Scouting report, keys to victory for Xavier vs. Saint Francis

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