NCAA Tournament 2015: Xavier season recap

The Musketeers are beatable but also highly capable

This Xavier program is one that can never be taken lightly. Just ask former Xavier coach Sean Miller. Miller was head honcho for the Musketeers for five years.

Oddly enough, Thad Matta, whom Arizona just defeated, preceded him. Miller actually served as associate coach under Matta for some time. It is weird how things work like that, but I guess it is all part of the term, "March Madness."

Chris Mack is in his sixth season as head coach of the present-day Musketeers. He led his team to a record of 21-13 heading into tournament play.

While having 13 losses is not all that impressive, Xavier was able to clinch a six-seed largely because it went on to reach the Big East Conference Tournament Finals before falling to Villanova. The Musketeers were also ranked 27^th in strength of schedule.

Xavier was one of six Big East teams to qualify for postseason play. The other five included Villanova, St. John’s, Georgetown, Butler and Providence. However, the Musketeers were the only team of that group to advance to the Sweet Sixteen in the 2015 NCAA Tournament.

Villanova was a one-seed that, perhaps, should have been Arizona instead. Nova did have top-tier talent, but its vulnerability showed from the beginning of the season as the Wildcats relied on a four-guard lineup.

Xavier was not able to expose Nova’s glaring weakness as it dropped both games by double-digits. Musketeer center Matt Stainbrook could not take advantage of a welcoming opportunity, which could spell trouble for him against a bigger and better Arizona team.

Xavier managed to beat Georgetown, arguably the next strongest team in the conference, in all three matchups between the two teams. In addition, the Musketeers went 2-1 against a tough Butler team, split the two-game series with Providence and fell to St. John’s in both games.

Xavier has a balanced scoring attack as six players average at least 8.5 points per game. Stainbrook’s 12.1 points per game makes him the Musketeers’ leading scorer. However, forward Trevon Bluiett and guard Myles Davis are not far behind. They average 11.3 and 10.7 points, respectively.

Senior guard Dee Davis acts as the floor general and also leads the team in playing time averaging 32.7 minutes per game. He averages 8.9 points but, more importantly, he dishes out an impressive six assists per game.

Coach Mack and the Musketeers have evidently been an up-and-down team this season. Fortunately for them, they just caught fire at the right time. T.J. McConnell and the Arizona Wildcats could very well put out that fire.

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