The first real hurdle is now behind the Muskies, and they cleared it with style and room to spare.
Just 24 hours ago, you could be forgiven for seeing Xavier as a bit of a flat track bully. They had been unconvincing in their first two buy games, and – while their demolition of Jackson State was a welcome departure from the trend – they hadn’t gathered a result worthy of mention on the young season. One demolition of a decent ACC team later, they’ve got their first win that might mean something on Selection Sunday.
Team basketball was the order of the day, and the Muskies came out of the gate playing to their strengths. The first basket of the game was a Ryan Conwell (21/0/4) three off of a Marcus Foster (8/2/1) assist. The next two times down, they played through Zach Freemantle (11/6/4), who turned provider for consecutive Foster threes.
Those were three of Xavier’s ten three-point baskets on the day. After opening the season 6-23 from deep against Texas Southern, X is 36-75 (48%) from behind the arc as a team.
Gearing that impressive display is the speed and consistency with which Xavier moves the ball. The Muskies made 23 buckets today and assisted 17. Two more of those buckets were steals followed by run-out layups, and one was a stickback. Only three times did the Muskies have a half-court possession end in a made basket that wasn’t assisted. This is an experienced group that is still learning to play with each other, but four games into the season they lead the nation in assist rate at a staggering 78.7%.
After Foster’s second three, Hunter Sallis hit a jumper to cut Xavier’s lead to 9-7. It was the last points Wake Forest would score for over five minutes as Xavier went on a decisive run to basically end the game as a contest. In the preview, I identified winning the second war as a key to the game; the home team answered that challenge in spectacular fashion.
It was the defense that spurred the charge. Wake Forest had 8 possessions during Xavier’s run; they were forced into turnovers on 5 of them. Marcus Foster and Ryan Conwell took the bulk of the responsibility on Sallis, and the rest of the team hassled and harried the Demon Deacons for a chaotic spell that put Xavier decisively on stop. By the time Parker Friedrichsen got his own steal and layup to stop the bleeding, Xavier had ripped off a 16-2 run that effectively ended the game as a contest. There was never again a time in the game where Wake had the ball within even two possessions.
It wasn’t for lack of trying. Efton Reid cut it to six; Ryan Conwell answered with a second chance basket off of a Jerome Hunter (8/3/1) offensive board. When Hunter Sallis cut it to five with a three and Wake was sniffing around making it interesting with five minutes to play in the half, it was Big Rome himself who answered with a trey ball at the other end. Cameron Hildreth chipped away; Dayvion McKnight (13/2/3) answered and-one. A modest 8-3 run over the last 4:33 sent Xavier into the locker room up 10.
A little sloppy execution out of the locker room let Wake open the second on a 5-0 run, but a Ryan Conwell three pushed the lead back to eight. Every time Wake got a bit of momentum – and to their credit, those moments were numerous – a veteran Xavier player was there to steady the ship. See Dayvion McKnight drill a three to push the lead to nine. See Dante Maddox, Jr. (6/1/0) Splash down from beyond the arc to re-establish offensive momentum after a couple of empty possessions. John Hugley IV (2/4/2) came in and built a massive wall in front of Efton Reid in the paint, helping force him into five turnovers.
The game lacked a real takeover moment. Instead, it was just a steady ensemble performance by Xavier as their defense force enough turnovers to paper over letting Wake shoot 13-23 in the second half and the offense scored 41 points in 32 second half possessions to steadily ease away from the Demon Deacons.
I’ve repeatedly made much of how veteran this Xavier team is, but I think it is going to be a storyline this season. After hitting a stride against some cupcakes, the Muskies’ execution in their first real test was everything you’d expect from a group comprised entirely of individuals who have been there before. After a year beset by injuries and inconsistency, I think Xavier fans are in for something very different with this group.