In the preview, we highlighted (highlit?) how necessary it would be for Xavier to keep Missouri State from harvesting free points at the free throw line. The Bears came into this game with pretty miserable overall offensive numbers, but they had been excellent in getting to the stripe (even though they had been miserable once they had gotten there). It would take a strong showing from the line for them to stay in this one.
Before the first media timeout, the Muskies had fouled not one but two three-point shooters, allowing them to convert 5 points from a couple of attempts made by guys shooting a combined 26.7% from deep on the year. Not an auspicious start on the defensive end, but Xavier was able to negate their shortcomings on that side with hot shooting from deep, drilling 3-4 to head into the break tied at 13.
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They missed their seven shots from behind the arc. Mo State took advantage, with Keith Palek III going on a 4-0 by himself to give the visitors their biggest least of the game. Xavier looked disjointed and flat, with the atmosphere in Cintas matching the tepid performance by the Muskies. Tre Carroll and Jovan Milicevic combined for 21 first-half points, but the rest of the team shot 5-18 from the floor and generally could not buy a bounce or roll on the rim. X was 5-12 on layups, got outscored 20-16 in the paint, and hit halftime with an unconvincing 31-28 lead.
Xavier came out of the locker room much as they had begun the first half, with Tre Carroll and All Wright bracketing threes around a Jovan Milicevic two, but Keith Palek III answered with a three of his own and Mo State got a couple of layups to keep it interesting at 39-35 at the under-16 media timeout.
Then, like a switch flipped, Xavier suddenly started to dominate. Malik Messina-Moore hit a pair of free throws, then he and Filip Borovicanin drilled threes off of Missouri State turnovers. The onslaught didn’t stop there, with Isaiah Walker getting back-to-back fast break layups. Not even a timeout by Cuonzo Martin could stem the onslaught as Xavier ripped off a 12-0 through a single four-minute war to take the game from tight enough to be concerning to an absolute laugher.
By the time Missouri State scored again, Xavier had gone on a 17-0 run over the span of just 4:20 of game time to suddenly get their money’s worth out of this buy game. In that time Xavier’s defense forced five turnovers and held Missouri State to 0-3/0-1/0-0 shooting. It was as fast a zipping up as you’re ever likely to see; even against a low-major opponent, it was an absolute defensive masterclass by the home team.
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Maybe most impressively was the fact that they did it without the players that had carried them in the first half. Tre Carroll stuck a three on the first possession of the half and then didn’t feature during Xavier’s run. Jovan Milicevic scored to make it 36-31 and not again until he did so to make it 60-40. Isaiah Walker and Filip Borovicanin led an ensemble cast that couldn’t stop turning defense into offense to tear the game wide open.
From there, it was a perfunctory march to the finish line. Xavier was stagnant for a half, but Richard Pitino flipped the jackal switch in the locker room and his team responded by absolutely walking away from an opponent that they hadn’t made look as overmatched as they should have. It will be March before Xavier plays another team that isn’t in the Big East.
Three takeaways
Xavier is stocked with weapons
Tre Carroll carried Xavier through the Crosstown Shootout; today he was a non-factor after the first possession of the second half. Jovan Milicevic wasn’t part of the run that sealed the game and only needed 11 shots to get his 17 points. All Wright and Big Fil both cruised into double digits. Six of Xavier’s eight rotation players collected assists as the Muskies scored 80% of their buckets off of dimes. Last game was about the star carrying; today was about the whole team contributing.
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Big Fil is maybe the most important player on the team
Like the famed macaque of an episode of Wild Boys that probably even Steve-o himself has forgotten, there’s nothing this guy can’t do. He was within a whisker of a triple-double, notching a casual 13/11/8 with only 1 turnover on 5-9/3-5/0-0 shooting and diming up walk-on Ian Sabourin for a three. He harried Keith Palek III into turnovers and rushed shots while he was on him and picked up a steal and a block for his defensive troubles. He led the team with 36 minutes, but very few of them looked like they were high-stress for him. He was every bit the veteran Swiss Army knife the team needs him to be.
Xavier isn’t good enough to play badly
When the Muskies are locked in, they can punch with just about anyone in the nation. When they lose even a little bit of intensity and connectedness, they can turn a buy game into must-see TV. Very early in the year, they let bad teams hang around and about picked up a couple of crippling losses. Today, they pivoted at halftime and absolutely crushed Missouri State out of the break. They can get away with 20 minutes of mediocrity against a team like that; try that stunt against UConn and records will be set. There’s no question they’ve improved since the start of the year, but there’s little margin for error for this roster, and they need to continue to play to their potential to make something of the conference season.
