CINCINNATI — Now, we go. Big East play for the Musketeers starts Wednesday night when they travel to Hartford, Connecticut to take on the two-time defending national champion UConn Huskies. Xavier will be doing so without their leading scorer this season, Zach Freemantle, who is out indefinitely with a lower body injury.
The Big East is going to be a gauntlet, as it is every season. But without your leading scorer, who Xavier didn’t have all of last year or for the second half of Big East play in 2023, it’s going to make things even more difficult for the Musketeers this season in Big East play.
Ryan Conwell, Davion McKnight and Marcus Foster are going to have to step up if Xavier is going to finish with a Big East record good enough for a Top 4 seed in the Big East Tournament that would give them a better chance of running the table at Madison Square Garden.
Right now, Xavier is only listed on two brackets on the Bracket Project’s Bracket Matrix. They have some work to do to earn their way back onto the bubble and in contention for an at-large bid, unless of course they win the Big East Tournament and earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
This week is going to be a challenge for the Musketeers. In addition to facing UConn Wednesday night, the Musketeers host Marquette Saturday afternoon. UConn is No. 11 in the AP Top 25, and Marquette is No. 9. That’s not an ideal two-game week in the immediate aftermath of Freemantle’s injury.
UConn is 8-3 so far this season, with all three losses coming in the Maui Invitational the week of Thanksgiving. Don’t worry, though; they’ve won every game since. That includes wins over Baylor and Gonzaga, both top 15 teams at the time UConn played them. This UConn team is deep, efficient and well-balanced. That’s exactly who they have become under head coach Dan Hurley.
With such a deep roster, we’re going to take a look at nine Huskies players to watch in Wednesday night’s Big East opener for the Musketeers.
Players to Watch
1. #11 Alex Karaban 6’8″ 225 lbs. R-Jr. Forward Southborough, Mass.
15.6 pts, 5 rebs/gm., 47.3 FG%, 42.4 3-PT FG%, 81.8 FT%, 33.5 mpg
One of the staples of UConn’s back-to-back national championship teams, Karaban keeps getting better now in his third full season with the Huskies. Karaban already has three 20-point games this season and six games scoring at least 17 points. He was off to a hot start this season heading into the Maui Invitational, but he has been in a slump since UConn’s Quarterfinals loss to Memphis in Maui. Over his last four games, Karaban is just 17-46 from the field including 8-27 from three-point range. He did miss two games with an injury earlier this month, though. Regardless of the slump he’s been in, Karaban is a highly accomplished player on the Huskies. He’s their leading scorer for a reason.
2. #30 Liam McNeeley 6’7″ 210 lbs. Fr. Forward Richardson, Texas
13.6 pts, 6.1 rebs, 42.9 FG%, 33.9 3-PT FG%, 83.7 FT%, 31.2 mpg
McNeeley is a player to watch not only Wednesday night, but also one to watch when Xavier hosts UConn on Saturday, January 25th and in College Basketball as a whole. McNeeley is UConn’s highest-ranked commit- No. 9 in the final ESPN 100 for the Class of 2025- since 2011. A McDonald’s All-American, McNeeley was also the MVP for Team Air in the Jordan Brand Classic this year when he scored 25 points. The moment has not been too big for McNeeley so far this season, especially coming off a 26-point performance in UConn’s win over No. 8 Gonzaga at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Did I mention he’s a freshman, and he just put up 26 points against Gonzaga at Madison Square Garden? McNeeley has nine double-digit point games this season and three games with three or more made three-pointers. This is his first go-round in the Big East, but he’s already proven that he can handle the toughest environments in College Basketball.
3. #1 Solo Ball 6’3″ 190 lbs. So. Guard Leesburg, Va.
12.5 pts, 1.9 rebs, 48% FG, 44.4 3-PT FG%, 15-20 FT, 26.9 mpg
Taking on an increased role this season, Ball has scored between 10-16 points in 10 of UConn’s first 11 games this season. Ball also has six games with three or more three-pointers. In his increased role, Ball has played 30 or more minutes in four of UConn’s previous six games. On this deep UConn team, Ball is definitely a player to watch. After all, he’s third on the Huskies in scoring in just his second season.
4. #5 Tarris Reed Jr. 6’10” 260 lbs. Jr. Center St. Louis Michigan Transfer
11.1 pts, 8 rebs/gm., 71.6 FG%, 68.4 FT%, 20.3 mpg
A two-year player with the Wolverines, Reed started in 31 games last year where he averaged nine points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. He’s settled in nicely in his first season with the Huskies, leading the team in rebounding through non-conference play. Reed has five games with double-digit rebounds this season. The big thing to note about Reed, though, is his efficiency from the field. He’s shooting over 70% from the field, and that’s with just one game with double-digit shot attempts. He’s an efficient scorer and really good rebounder. Xavier can’t let Reed get too many touches in the paint Wednesday night, and they’ll have to do an excellent job against him on the glass.
5. #10 Hassan Diarra 6’2″ 195 lbs. 5th-Year Guard Queens, N.Y. Texas A&M Transfer
7.6 pts, 2.9 rebs, 41.7 FG%, 22.6 3-PT FG%, 77.1 FT%, 63 ast.-24 TO, 24.3 mpg
Last year’s Big East Sixth Man of the Year, Diarra is in his third season with the Huskies. He leads the team with 63 assists, including 25 in his last three games. Diarra is a distributor of the basketball, so it will be paramount Xavier guards him and prevents from getting the ball to UCon”s four players averaging double-digit points per game.
6. #35 Samson Johnson 6’10” 225 lbs. Sr. Center Lome, Togo
7.4 pts, 2.5 rebs, 83.7 FG%, 9-13 FT, 19 blk, 10 stl, 17.1 mpg
That 83.7 FG% is not a typo. In fact, Johnson set the UConn single-season record with a 72.5 FG% last year. Four times this season Johnson has had a perfect game from the field. Johnson also has three double-digit scoring games in UConn’s last five games.
7. #3 Jaylin Stewart 6’7″ 215 lbs. So. Forward Seattle
6.2 pts, 3 rebs/gm., 55.6 FG%, 6-18 3-PT FG, 12-16 FT, 15.3 mpg
Stewart was one of five true-freshman on last year’s national championship team. This year, Stewart has three double-digit point games. He’s also 6-7 from the field and 3-3 from three-point range over UConn’s last two games.
8. #23 Jayden Ross 6’7″ 205 lbs. So. Forward Bristow, Va.
4.7 pts, 2.7 rebs, 41.7 FG%, 20.7 3-PT FG%, 1-1 FT, 15 mpg
Ross has two double-digit point games this season and one game with 10 rebounds this season. In addition, Ross has played three games with 20+ minutes this season.
9. #20 Aidan Mahaney 6’3″ 185 lbs. Jr. Guard Lafayette, Calif. Saint Mary’s Transfer
4.6 pts, 1 reb/gm., 34% FG, 34.5 3-PT FG%, 5-7 FT, 15.1 mpg
Mahaney brings experience after two seasons at Saint Mary’s, averaging 13.9 points per game in both seasons. He was a big part of Saint Mary’s earning a No. 5 seed in the previous two NCAA Tournaments. He came to UConn a 37.5% shooter from three-point range while also contributing 2.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Mahaney has three games with multiple three-point makes and two games with double-digit points this season.
Head Coach: Dan Hurley (7th season)
Hurley has quickly become one of the best head coaches in College Basketball. With the old guard of Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Jim Boeheim and others retired, Hurley is the leader of the new guard of great College Basketball head coaches.
It’s not just that UConn has won back-to-back national championships. UConn has won 12 straight NCAA Tournament games by double-digit points. UConn is one of just three programs (Duke and Florida being the others) to win back-to-back national championships in the last 40 years.
Hurley, who hails from a basketball family, came to UConn after coaching Rhode Island for six seasons. He took the Rams to NCAA Tournaments in his final two seasons, winning a game in each tournament.
The Jersey City native also was the head coach at Wagner for two seasons, an assistant coach at Rutgers and the head coach at St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, New Jersey for nine seasons, with his teams finishing in the top five of the national rankings four times.
Hurley played four seasons at Seton Hall where he helped the Pirates to three NCAA Tournaments while scoring over 1,000 points and dishing out over 400 assists.
Keys to the Game
1. Weather the storm: UConn is going to be out in full throat playing at home on Wednesday night. Xavier is going to have to show incredible toughness for 40 minutes, especially in the game’s opening minutes. If the Musketeers can survive the opening minutes, they can keep this game close throughout its 40 minutes.
2. Rebounding: With a team that can score and be efficient as well as UConn, Xavier must win or keep the rebounding margin close. The Musketeers simply can’t give up second chance points to the Huskies Wednesday night.
3. Defend for 40 minutes: Teams can’t just play good defense for a few minutes and then relax against the Huskies. It has to be a consistently strong defensive effort for 40 minutes against the Huskies Wednesday night.
Score Prediction: UConn 81 – Xavier 68
Looking beyond this game, Xavier can overcome Freemantle’s injury and however long he may be out for. UConn is just going to be too much Wednesday night as players settle into increased roles with Freemantle out.
