Musketeers Beat: Xavier looks to avenge December overtime loss at UConn at home Saturday night

CINCINNATI — Look at the Big East standings and UConn only has two more Big East and overall wins than Xavier. After taking the Huskies to overtime in their Big East opener, the Musketeers are 4-4 in their eight Big East games since. They know they can beat the two-time defending NCAA Tournament champion UConn Huskies.

UConn has been 5-2 in seven games since beating Xavier back on December 18th. But it hasn’t been easy sledding. The Huskies barely scraped past Butler TWICE, and they have losses to Villanova and Creighton. Make no mistake, though, this Huskies team is still really good.

With such a deep roster, we’re going to take a look at eight Huskies players to watch Saturday night in Cincinnati.

Players to Watch

1.  #11  Alex Karaban  6’8″  225 lbs.  R-Jr.  Forward  Southborough, Mass.
15.8 pts, 5.1 rebs, 47.4 FG%, 41.3 3-PT FG%, 78% FT, 36 mpg

The fact that Karaban has played 36 minutes per game is otherworldly. That’s one of the top marks in the country in minutes per game. In the seven games UConn has played since beating Xavier in its Big East opener back on December 18th, Karaban has played less than 35 minutes just once. Karaban has made four three-pointers twice and has three games with five or more rebounds.

2.  #1  Solo Ball  6’3″  190 lbs.  So.  Guard  Leesburg, Va.
14.2 pts, 2.6 rebs, 47.2 FG%, 45.1 3-PT FG%, 77.5 FT%, 29.8 mpg

Ball is a terrific scorer and shooter. He’s made three three-pointers five times in UConn’s last seven games, and that includes five three-pointers Tuesday night against Butler and seven threes against DePaul on New Year’s Day. Ball has six straight games scoring in double figures, including two games scoring 20+ points and 15+ points in every one of UConn’s last six games.

3.  #5  Tarris Reed Jr.  6’10”  260 lbs.  Jr.  Center  St. Louis  Michigan Transfer
9.7 pts, 7.3 rebs, 65.5 FG%, 71.9 FT%, 20.2 mpg

A strong big man with a knack for scoring and efficiency, Reed has scored in double figures twice since the last time UConn matched up with Xavier. In addition, Reed has four games with multiple blocks in that span.

4.  #10  Hassan Diarra  6’2″  195 lbs.  5th-Year  Guard  Queens, N.Y.  Texas A&M Transfer
8.9 pts, 3.3 rebs, 127 ast.-38 TO, 29 stl, 42.4 FG%, 25.9 3-PT FG%, 81.5 FT%, 21.5 mpg

Diarra had 11 assists against Xavier back on December 18th, his second 11-assist game this season. He’s had at least seven assists in six of UConn’s last seven games, while also scoring in double figures four times in that stretch. Diarra has played 30+ minutes five times in the Huskies last seven games, including a season-high 39 minutes on Tuesday against Butler.

5.  #35  Samson Johnson  6’10”  225 lbs.  Sr.  Center  Lome, Togo
7.9 pts, 2.9 rebs, 76.5 FG%, 73.1 FT%, 19 mpg

A consistent player, Johnson has increased his scoring average by over half a point per game in the Huskies last seven games. He’s also shot 50 percent or better from the field in each of UConn’s last seven games.

6.  #3  Jaylin Stewart  6’7″  215 lbs.  So.  Forward  Seattle
5.6 pts, 2.4 rebs, 53.2 FG%, 29.4 3-PT FG%, 14-18 FT, 17.8 mpg

Stewart has two 14-point games since the Huskies win over Xavier on December 18th, and he has started each of UConn’s last four games. In that stretch, he’s made multiple three-pointers twice and played 30+ minutes three times.

7.  #23  Jayden Ross  6’7″  205 lbs.  So.  Forward  Bristow, Va.
3.7 pts, 2.2 rebs, 41.2 FG%, 23.1 3-PT FG%, 2-3 FT, 14.5 mpg

Ross has played double-digit minutes in all but one of UConn’s seven games since the Huskies last played Xavier in their Big East opener. He may not see a lot of playing time on Saturday, but he has scored in five of his last seven games.

8.  #20  Aidan Mahaney  6’3″  185 lbs.  Jr.  Guard  Lafayette, Calif.  Saint Mary’s Transfer
4.7 pts, 37.2 FG%, 34.1 3-PT FG%, 12-16 FT, 13.7 mpg

Mahaney has played double-digit minutes in four of UConn’s seven games since beating Xavier in the Huskies Big East opener back on December 18th. He played 20 minutes in a win against Providence, a game where he also scored 15 points on five three-pointers.

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.  Offensive efficiency: This Huskies team is so good and so efficient on offense. To beat this Huskies team, the Musketeers are going to have to match everything UConn does on offense. The Musketeers have to go toe-to-toe with the Huskies both in scoring and efficiency.

2.  Be disruptive on defense: The Huskies average 19.4 assists per game this season. That’s third in the country. Xavier is going to have to cause disruption on defense because if UConn gets into any sort of offensive rhythm, that is not going to be good for the Musketeers.

3.  Don’t let the St. John’s game beat you twice: For as tough as Wednesday night’s loss was at St. John’s, there’s no time to let that loss linger into Saturday. The first four minutes of Saturday night’s home game against UConn will tell us a lot about where the Musketeers are at psychologically in a game that can really boost their NCAA Tournament resume.

 

Score Prediction: Musketeers 76 – Huskies 73

This is a game Xavier can win. The Huskies have not been nearly as dominant as they’ve been the last two seasons. Heck, they barely scraped past Butler on Tuesday night. After a good stretch by Xavier recently, that included a win at No. 10 Marquette and a close loss to No. 20 St. John’s, the Musketeers know they can beat the heavyweight in the Big East. Saturday night is the 10th Big East game this season for the Musketeers. A win will provide a lot of momentum going into the second half of Big East play.