Xavier Cruises For Its Second Win

         

Courtesy of  http://hawkcentral.com/2010/11/18/gatens-back-for-tough-xavier-matchup/

             I know it's very early in the season, with most teams having played only two games, but I predict Xavier will go on an Elite Eight run in the NCAA tournament. Sure, it's only November and we're four months away from March Madness, but Xavier's guard play is good enough to match up with any backcourt in the country. Tonight, the fourteenth ranked team in the nation beat IPFW by a score of 86-63 at home. The Musketeers' guards alone scored a combined 62 points. They are led by senior Tu Holloway and junior Mark Lyons, who led all scorers, outside of Mastadons guard Frank Gaines. I was encouraged to see Holloway bounce back well from his one-game suspension from playing in two summer leagues, when the rules state that a player is only allowed to compete in one. True freshman Dezmine Wells has stood out in Xavier's first two games to be a third scoring option, who can play as a guard or forward. The key to XU's blowout win was their phenomenal shooting. The Musketeers made over 56% of their shots and impressively shot above fifty percent from behind the arc. The biggest question in their lineup is the strength and depth of their big men. Kenny Frease, listed at 7'0", is a big body in the middle and will need to both stay out of foul trouble as well as be able to body up against skilled centers and forwards. The true test will come in the Crosstown Shootout against the University of Cincinnati on December 10th, when Frease will be matched-up against Yancy Gates.

             Xavier will head into a tough stretch of games against a lot of bulldogs, literally. In the next month, they face Georgia, Gonzaga, and Butler, as well as games against the ranked opponents of Vanderbilt and Cincinnati. Luckily, their schedule evens out with a pretty easy schedule in the second half of the year when they play most of their conference games, with a game against current #10 Memphis in the middle of the Musketeers' A-10 schedule. The next ten games will be a gauge to see if Xavier is worthy of their #14 rank, and if they can survive with only one loss, they could even find themselves somewhere around #10. Assuming their starting lineup remains healthy, I think Xavier can go undefeated in the A-10 and Tu Holloway has All-American potential.