The first of the Big Four games goes Xavier’s way as, ponderously, a season starts to swing.
If you listen to our podcast (Thanks!), you’ll know that Brad and Bryan pointed out that Xavier desperately needed good results from their upcoming four games. The first of these four games was a trip to Milwaukee and a matchup with a Marquette team that X fell just short against at home. It seemed like a tall order, but for about 25 minutes it wasn’t.
Xavier started the game about as well as possible and jumped out to a 14-8 lead by the U12 timeout. The thing that stood out was the defense. They held Kam Jones in check, forced some turnovers out of the Golden Eagles, and looked the most locked in they had been all season. The offense was not electric, but it was getting the job done. X didn’t look content to chuck from three and attacked the paint and moved the ball well.
The rest of the half was more of the same. Every time Marquette looked to gain some ground, X would get a stop and then work for a good look. After watching Ryan Conwell carry the offense against Nova, the rest of the team finally decided to do some legwork, and the offense was equal opportunity in the first half. All of this put Xavier up 35-24 at the half against a top 10 opponent.
One would expect Marquette to punch back coming out of the half, but it was Xavier that opened the half on a 10-2 run to push the lead to 45-26. Dailyn Swain put in six in this stretch and finally looked like he was in attack mode. If you’re reading this, you likely know the final outcome of this game. If you can do math, then you know that means you know Xavier got outscored 31-14 over the final 14:56.
That still didn’t matter. You knew Marquette would eventually hit some shots and get some stops. As the game tightened up, X did just enough to keep their double-digit advantage. Dayvion McKnight went on a personal 4-0 run to push the lead back to 14 with 8:26 to play. Then their patented collapse seemed to begin. X missed some open looks, Marquette hit some threes, and David Joplin bullied home a few shots in the paint.
A Kam Jones three cut it to 53-49 with just over 4 minutes to go. Ryan Conwell hit a layup just before David Joplin answered back. Same margin, two and a half minutes to go. After Stevie Mitchell finally got called for a foul he committed all game, it was Marcus Foster who was found by Ryan Conwell to finish through contact. 58-51. 2:09 remaining. A couple Marquette layups cut it to three, but Kam Jones couldn’t connect on the game-tying bucket, and Marcus Foster was headed to the line. He split the free throws, and Kam Jones took a layup to cut the game back to two. Unfortunately, X couldn’t get the ball in without getting trapped, and a jump ball was called. Marquette ball with 8 seconds remaining. Then Dailyn Swain blew up Marquette’s final play not once, but twice. First he tipped Kam Jones’s cross-court pass. Then, when that pass found Stevie Mitchell, Dailyn stripped the ball from him as he drove towards the rim. Ballgame, easy. On to some takeaways.
The team never quit on this one.
11 days ago, the effort of this team was called into question after they melted out of a game against St. John’s. The effort could not be questioned today. From the tip, the team looked focused, energetic, and dedicated. The defensive effort was excellent all around, but Dayvion McKnight, Marcus Foster, and Dailyn Swain were incredible. Swain was a monster on the glass and was making the energy plays that someone with his athleticism can make. McKnight and Foster both grabbed 3 steals and were key to holding Kam Jones to just 11/3/6 with 4 turnovers. Even as the lead slipped, the effort and intensity did not, and it ultimately got this across the line. Just.
Xavier won this one in the paint.
2-17 from three isn’t gonna win you many games. Your red-hot shooter who just dropped 34 going 0-8 also doesn’t help much. The beauty of it was that Xavier didn’t keep forcing threes when they weren’t working. Instead, they found Freemantle when he was open, Dailyn Swain attacked all the time (and got fouled most of the time), and a combination of ball and player movement got Xavier 36 points in the paint.
ANOTHA ONE!
Beating Kyle Neptune’s Villanova at the Cintas is one thing. Going on the road, shooting badly from three, and still beating a top 10 Marquette on the road is a completely different thing. No matter how you cut it though, those are both huge wins for this team. To quote Kobe, “Job’s not finished.” The Muskies still have work to do, but these last two games have injected hope back into the season. Now would be as good a time as any to get hot.