Game Thread: Xavier v Seton Hall University (12/20/2022)

[paulxu]

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/2a1f45a0-e1cc-4202-89d7-1b7b5c27f309_1.3c18d8e111cdcd7e8a271effb6000907.jp eg?odnHeight=612&odnWidth=612&odnBg=FFFFFFVS.https://bkstr.scene7.com/is/image/Bkstr/544-PLUSH-544-9-White?$HomePageRecs_ET$



THE MATCHUP

RV/RV XAVIER UNIVERSITY MUSKETEERS (9-3, 1-0 BIG EAST)
SETON HALL UNIVERSITY PIRATES (7-5, 0-1 BIG EAST)
TUESDAY, DEC. 20, 2022 AT 8:30 P.M. ET
AT CINTAS CENTER (10,224) IN CINCINNATI, OHIO

TV, RADIO & LIVE STATS

Television: FS1 with play by-play from Jason Benetti and analysis from Nick Bahe .
Radio: 700 WLW with play-by-play from Xavier Hall of Famer Joe Sunderman ('79) and analysis from XU all-time leading scorer and Hall of Famer Byron Larkin ('88). XU broadcast also available on Sirius XM channel 387 and 977 on the SXM App.
Live Stats: Media stats at Statbroadcast.com (http://Statbroadcast.com) and fan stats at GoXavier.com (http://GoXavier.com).

[X-band '01]

Yes, no Dickey Simpkins or LaVall Jordan!

[X Factor]

I think this game sets up really well for X. Seton Hall is a bad offensive team. They shoot poorly from the field, three, and the FT line. They turn the ball over a lot. They foul a lot.

If X comes out ready to play, I think this is a 15 point win.

[Xville]

Agreed. If x comes out ready to play the x -7.5 against this team is a joke. It should be a double digit win easily. Competition starts to ramp up next week

[noteggs]

On paper, X looks good. SH has played a lot of small ball this year. As BAND pointed out, they’ve had our number the last 4 years at home. Hopefully new coach new results. Seems like we have better luck in S Orange. JP dunk off missed shot comes to mind.

[X-band '01]

But one thing they do well is keep other teams from scoring and turn the game into a rock fight. Xavier really hasn't had a game like that yet, but if they do shoot well then Seton Hall is going to be in trouble.

[American X]

Carving up Georgetown was fun, but relatively easy. How well Xavier can continue the offensive execution against a legit defense?

On the other side, what, if anything, can Xavier do to improve the perimeter defense? What changes in assignments or schemes can Miller do?

Can Jerome Hunter complete the circle and get all five fouls in the first half?

[Muskie]

Headed over tonight. Seton Hall was 4-0 in Cintas the last Four trips. Will do my part to stop the streak tonight. Love the Big East. I hate these 830 start times. (yes, yes, yes, i'm getting old).

[UCGRAD4X]

Headed over tonight. Seton Hall was 4-0 in Cintas the last Four trips. Will do my part to stop the streak tonight. Love the Big East. I hate these 830 start times. (yes, yes, yes, i'm getting old).

I was going to say the same thing about the 8:30 start time and I don't have to drive to Indiana afterwards.

I'll be there, loud and proud, and stay to the end.

[xu82]

I was going to say the same thing about the 8:30 start time and I don't have to drive to Indiana afterwards.

I'll be there, loud and proud, and stay to the end.

They just showed you! Well done!

[Xville]

Playing tough so far tonight, I like it!

[GoMuskies]

Shaheen mad

[KabeX]

How about Free to Hunter. Nice.

[Blue Blooded-05]

I love seeing us taking charges again. Neither Mack nor Steele were big on taking charges. Could never understand why

[KabeX]

Oh my. Des to Free

[Xville]

Really impressive start by both free and hunter. I can’t believe I’m saying that about hunter lol

[GoMuskies]

The Claude airball 3 was a buzzkill going into the TO. Lol

[KabeX]

Any truth to the rumor that Louisville will be leaving the ACC for the ASUN? Or maybe ASUN wouldn't want them. Final: Lispcomb 75 UL 67. Oy.

[xu82]

I love seeing us taking charges again. Neither Mack nor Steele were big on taking charges. Could never understand why

I love seeing other people take charges! ��

[Xville]

Where has this been from free? Channel this for the rest of the season, please

[KabeX]

Marquette & Providence going at it in OT. What's up with Marquette? Guess they're back just like De Paul.

[noteggs]

JK at the game!

[KabeX]

Gettin real sloppy.

[Xville]

Ok kunkel needs to sit. He’s had an absolutely atrocious first half. Probably the worst he’s had in a Xavier uniform

[xudash]

These guys are not sharp tonight. They are not playing intelligently. I’ve seen way too many cross court passes.

[X Factor]

We are so soft on defense. Just let guys blow past on the perimeter time after time. Grow a pair!

[xu82]

I’m sure they don’t say potty words, do they?

[GoMuskies]

I was on a call for a bit. Has Tandy played? Or is he buried on the bench again?

[Xville]

We are so soft on defense. Just let guys blow past on the perimeter time after time. Grow a pair!

It’s mostly been kunkel and Claude on that end on the perimeter and then nunge plays oley d down low

[Xville]

I was on a call for a bit. Has Tandy played? Or is he buried on the bench again?

Nope apparently back to the doghouse. I don’t get it.. yeah he jacks up threes and plays meh d.. has anyone watched kunkel?

[Xavgrad08]

I was on a call for a bit. Has Tandy played? Or is he buried on the bench again?

He has not played.

[Xville]

And Nunge is a puss

[GoMuskies]

Should you really "heat check" after one made shot?

[X Factor]

Jack is soft

[paulxu]

Nunge is not himself tonight.

[GoMuskies]

I blame his wife

[xu82]

We need an Uber driver.

[GoMuskies]

Big East teams physically abuse us. Glad the Hall can't shoot.

[Xville]

Nunge is not himself tonight.

Looks about the same to me. Yeah he scores more sometimes, but he’s charmin. Maybe check his wife’s purse, his balls are probably in there

[X Factor]

Looks about the same to me. Yeah he scores more sometimes, but he’s charmin. Maybe check his wife’s purse, his balls are probably in there

He's a total finesse player. Hates mixing it up inside. Let's guys go right through him.

[paulxu]

I sort of feel bad about Edwards. We could sure use him to give the bigs a breather.
But he never seems to be in long enough to get himself set.
Comes in, has a rebound, promptly turns the ball over...and out he goes.
Oh well.

[GoMuskies]

Boum, Free and Jones doing their thing. Need some help.

[XU_Lou]

And Nunge is a puss

nice.

[Xavgrad08]

Fremantle played had a very good first half. Kunkel and Nunge did the complete opposite.

[D-West & PO-Z]

Was supposed to be at the game but tested positive for covid. Not sure if it’s the covid or Kunkel giving me these sweats. What an abysmal half from him. Got to get some more of his mins to Claude or Hunter. If he isn’t going to hit shots (layups or threes) he is hurting us bad. 2 turnovers as well.

Nunge been nonexistent as well. Do we chalk that up to their big guy? Can Nunge get things going?

Freemantle is having one of those games we knew he would where his offense is so much more valuable to the team than any defensive deficiency. Let’s get Boum going to start the half!

[xudash]

How many points did Nunge have in the first half?

[GoMuskies]

How many points did Nunge have in the first half?

1

[KabeX]

Don't like the feel of this.

[paulxu]

We are just soft on D in the paint.

[paulxu]

Nunge also can't dunk for a damn.

[GoMuskies]

These refs love the late whistle.

[xu82]

Was supposed to be at the game but tested positive for covid. Not sure if it’s the covid or Kunkel giving me these sweats. What an abysmal half from him. Got to get some more of his mins to Claude or Hunter. If he isn’t going to hit shots (layups or threes) he is hurting us bad. 2 turnovers as well.

Nunge been nonexistent as well. Do we chalk that up to their big guy? Can Nunge get things going?

Freemantle is having one of those games we knew he would where his offense is so much more valuable to the team than any defensive deficiency. Let’s get Boum going to start the half!

Sorry to hear that! I’m hoping the sweats are due to Kunkel. Feel better soon. Wins always help!

[Xville]

That’s a terrible call on freemantle.

[xu82]

That’s a terrible call on freemantle.

Totally agree.

[xu82]

We are “frigid tonight”. That sounds bad.

[Xville]

Nunge at least playing with a tiny bit more fire this half. Someone needs to step the hell up with free on the bench

[GoMuskies]

Kunk has 3. Not too worried if he fouls out tonight.

[xudash]

Was supposed to be at the game but tested positive for covid. Not sure if it’s the covid or Kunkel giving me these sweats. What an abysmal half from him. Got to get some more of his mins to Claude or Hunter. If he isn’t going to hit shots (layups or threes) he is hurting us bad. 2 turnovers as well.

Nunge been nonexistent as well. Do we chalk that up to their big guy? Can Nunge get things going?

Freemantle is having one of those games we knew he would where his offense is so much more valuable to the team than any defensive deficiency. Let’s get Boum going to start the half!

Get well soon. I only hope you have something to smile about this evening.

[kellernr]

Kunkel needs to ride the bench for awhile. He's not scoring a and he's getting destroyed on the defensive end.

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[KabeX]

Flop

[xu82]

Kunk has 3. Not too worried if he fouls out tonight.

Or….is he due?

[KabeX]

Jezus we might have to go zone.

[Xville]

Ffs get kunkel out of the damn game. He’s been terrible

[GoMuskies]

Or….is he due?

Due for an awful turnover, apparently.

[paulxu]

Wish we could get Boum more shots.

[xu82]

Due for an awful turnover, apparently.

Awful was…….kind.

[GoMuskies]

Wish we could get Boum more shots.

Or Hunter. Really

[X Factor]

I wish we some depth in the frontcourt because Jack should be on the bench tonight

[GoMuskies]

We're pretty bad tonight. Got to gut it out when you don't have your best stuff.

[GoMuskies]

I wish we some depth in the frontcourt because Jack should be on the bench tonight

Seems like a decent matchup for Miles.

[xudash]

We're pretty bad tonight. Got to gut it out when you don't have your best stuff.

It has now come down to that.

[xudash]

Win or lose, this game’s shelf-life on the DVR is very, very short.

[KabeX]

We're pretty bad tonight. Got to gut it out when you don't have your best stuff.
Pretty much what I was just thinking. Win ugly. But gotta do that with D. Will be interesting to see what Sean does. Offense needs to stay aggressive. Defend w/o fouling. Damn. Call me Capt. Obvious.

[Xville]

Hunter has earned more minutes tonight. Let nunge sit a while

[Blue Blooded-05]

Love the set plays out of timeouts. Who knew coaches did such things?

[xu82]

Good coaching matters.

[X Factor]

Jerome Hunter!!!

[KabeX]

Dare I say .. Jerome F. Hunter!

[GoMuskies]

Hunter MVP

[Xville]

What a fucking game from hunter! Proud of the man. He was in hell last year with a shit coach, now he’s starting to gain confidence and blossom into his role. Great job young man!

[xu82]

NOW we are playing!

[xudash]

I will take an ugly win if this is the game that it all clicks in for HUNTER. He is playing his butt off and is mostly responsible for taking back the momentum.

[Blue Blooded-05]

Damn... if hunter keeps playing like this, our front court depth problem is solved. 10 points 3 rebounds and counting. Well done Jerome!

[paulxu]

Maybe it was just a question of getting into BE play and facing tougher defenses.
But Nunge and Kunkel faced them last year. Tonight is just a real shit show for those 2.

[KabeX]

OK bad Jerome just showed up ... but he's not staying.

[GoMuskies]

Finish them

[Xville]

Maybe it was just a question of getting into BE play and facing tougher defenses.
But Nunge and Kunkel faced them last year. Tonight is just a real shit show for those 2.

This pretty much happens to kunkel every year. Once x enters big East play, he becomes a guy that should be coming off the bench playing 12-15 minutes. He’s not big East starting material, he’s just not. He’s not athletic enough, he’s small, and his defense is atrocious.

[X Factor]

I swear Jack has the weakest hands

[KabeX]

I really hate playing these guys

[xu82]

Boum is mortal. I had suspected it all along.

[Xville]

Have played into the halls hands all game. Wish x would have pressed a few times to try and speed them upand get some easy transition buckets.

[KabeX]

Shooters gotta keep shootin I guess. Thank you Adam.

[Xville]

Let’s win this last 5 minutes and burn the tape

[paulxu]

We continue to let a smaller player into the lane, run around our guys and make a layup.

Maybe, just maybe, our guys with a number of fouls on them are playing more carefully.
But no...it was just like this in the first half. Sean has got to fix that somehow.

[Blue Blooded-05]

A Steele-esque 4/19 from three. If we shoot 10 percentage points below our season average, we’re winning by 9

[GoMuskies]

Hunter not taking open 3s is awesome.

[paulxu]

Let’s win this last 5 minutes and burn the tape

There's an idea whose time has come.

[Xville]

Wow can’t say enough about hunter. What a game!

[GoMuskies]

7-0 runs are fun.

[KabeX]

Free NOOOOOOO ... YES!

[GoMuskies]

Free NOOOOOOO ... YES!

Hey, he's our 63% 3 point shooter!

[X Factor]

Let's go X!

[GoMuskies]

Now finish

[xu82]

Hunter not taking open 3s is awesome.

Is it crazy that if we get a few tournament wins he might get a dorm named after him for that?


I mean, if he wins the Powerball and kicks in a few million.

[KabeX]

I want more of this Free, this Hunter. I'll take a little less of this Nunge and Kunkle (although the 1st 3 he hit helped). I'd like to place an order for the previous Nunge and Kunkle. And I'm in a hurry please.

[GoMuskies]

What?

[Xville]

Free and hunter….thank you!

[GoMuskies]

Hmm, this isn't great.

[xu82]

These are teaching moments.


That’s the best I got……

[boozehound]

Trash play from Colby there. Fucking garbage.

[HenryMuto]

BRUTAL have to get that rebound

[X Factor]

We just can't get stops

[kellernr]

Nunge is useless on defense. He makes feeemantle look like a good defensive player

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[KabeX]

I'm all for teaching ... with a W

[Xville]

Geezus just can’t make it easy. This game was close to over 30 seconds ago.

[GoMuskies]

These are teaching moments.


That’s the best I got……

Hopefully Miller is about to teach Shaheen an aweaome set play.

[xu82]

Hopefully Miller is about to teach Shaheen an aweaome set play.

Ohh, how I dearly miss those!

[GoMuskies]

Jones is not going well. He's not alone.

[X Factor]

Sean needs to figure out the defense!

[HenryMuto]

Why are you running clock when only up 1 terrible

[X Factor]

We're gonna lose

[GoMuskies]

Thar possession was Steele-y

[boozehound]

Terrible, terrible, terrible offensive set there.

[Blue Blooded-05]

No one other than Boum wanted to take the shot

[KabeX]

Wow. Talk about teachable moments. Oh my.

[Xville]

Wtf was that? Geezus fuck what a terrible possession.

[X Factor]

I have no faith in our defense to get a stop. Seton Hall just has to miss because they're going to get a shot or a foul

[boozehound]

It’s hard to over state how poor that offensive possession was.

[GoMuskies]

Hopefully Seton Hall doesn't get a shot off. To help my heart health.

[KabeX]

The bad feeling I had earlier just got a lot worse.

[xudash]

Unfortunately, we need some good luck. It’s come down to that.

[kellernr]

Everyone of the team leaders was trash tonight except free and hunter. Jones killed the last possession by dribbling away the shot clock before throwing it around the 3pt line. Only Boum should have the ball on final possessions.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[GoMuskies]

Hopefully Seton Hall doesn't get a shot off. To help my heart health.

My heart feels good.

[HenryMuto]

Ok make sure you get the ball to a good FT shooter please

[Xville]

Great d by Colby there!

[X Factor]

Colby got a stop!! Unbelievable.

[xu82]

AMAZING job by Colby! Well done, sir!

[Xavgrad08]

Nice defense by Jones. Also nice job by the officials to not make a bad bail out call

[Xville]

Get the ball to boum and game over

[GoMuskies]

Foul up 3

[Blue Blooded-05]

Us older X fans are wondering if Sean will foul here

[HenryMuto]

Foul them at half court since they have 0 timeouts left.

[X Factor]

Us older X fans are wondering if Sean will foul here

I don't think so in this situation

[GoMuskies]

Us older X fans are wondering if Sean will foul here

He's learned, right? Right?

[KabeX]

Us older X fans are wondering if Sean will foul here
Yes. Indeed we are.

[KabeX]

It's been 15 years ...

[HenryMuto]

Jesus they ran that play well thank god it missed

[GoMuskies]

He hasn't learned. But we win.

[GreatWhiteNorth]

Sweating !

[xu82]

Breathe!!!!

[Xville]

Nice play by hall. Geezus I’ll take the win but that was fugly

[HenryMuto]

It's been 15 years ...

Oh now I know what you are talking about.....no comment

[KabeX]

Wow. For our younger fans ... there was a popular Journey album that came out in 1981 called "ESCAPE".

That is all.

[paulxu]

Colby's D to force the walk won this game.

[Nigel Tufnel]

A win is a win…don’t know if anybody caught this…but unless the rules have changed, Colby traveled horribly on that last in bounds play. He shuffled and took multiple steps on what should have been a spot in bounds. I’ll take it though.

[KabeX]

Colby's D to force the walk won this game.
This is a correct observation.

[KabeX]

Oh now I know what you are talking about.....no comment
And none needed. Thank God for a teachable moment(s) W.

[xukeith]

Seton Hall looked tough. X will play tougher front courts.
Nunge had a bad game. Best Hunter game ever. Not much bench play. Looking lucky is better sometimes.

[Masterofreality]

Ain’t no incisive commentary from this quarter.

A Dub is a Dub. On to Christmas & St. John’s.

[Masterofreality]

It's been 15 years ...

If you know, you know.

[KabeX]

If you know, you know.
It still hurts tho. Damn it.

[bjf123]

Just win baby.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[X Factor]

Seton Hall looked tough. X will play tougher front courts.
Nunge had a bad game. Best Hunter game ever. Not much bench play. Looking lucky is better sometimes.

They're ok. They lost at home to Providence in their first BE game.

Xavier should've won by 10+ points, but the defense keeps letting teams right back into it.

I'll take the W though!

[D-West & PO-Z]

This pretty much happens to kunkel every year. Once x enters big East play, he becomes a guy that should be coming off the bench playing 12-15 minutes. He’s not big East starting material, he’s just not. He’s not athletic enough, he’s small, and his defense is atrocious.

I cannot believe Miller played Kunkel 4 more mins than Hunter and Claude combined. Miller clearly doesn’t trust Claude in big moments yet. Kunkel did show poise hitting the 2 FTs but was terrible otherwise.

[KabeX]

Just win baby.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Indeed. And I'm having a Victory Beer. And to be clear the first 5 were just Nervous Beers.

[Jumpin_Jamal_Forever]

Agreed. If x comes out ready to play the x -7.5 against this team is a joke. It should be a double digit win easily. Competition starts to ramp up next week

We should never make a statement like this about a Big East opponent. Tonight, we escaped with a win against a supposedly inferior team on our home court.

First, even though the Banners article says this is a down year for the Big East, it is still the BIG EAST where every single game can turn into a dogfight. The Georgetown game was way tougher than I expected and tonight, Georgetown took it to a vastly superior and richly talented UCONN team in Storrs. Even though they ultimately lost, Ewing had his team ready for the Huskies.

With the transfer portal, it is difficult to evaluate an opponent and predict game outcomes accurately----at least, early in the season. I saw Seton Hall play a few weeks ago and they looked horrible. But many teams have transfers, and it is reasonable to expect some time is needed before the team starts playing together seamlessly. So, tonight, just a couple of weeks later, The Hall is a different team. They had energy and confidence and just took the game to us. Glad they cannot shoot free throws.

Hats off to Hunter but tonight we played a seven-player rotation (not counting Edward's thirty seconds). I cannot imagine we will be able to rely on just seven players going forward. We are now going to be fed a steady diet of wide bodies down low for the balance of the season and we have to get much better help off the bench. If we don't, we will lose of bunch of games. Where will we get that help? Doesn't appear it will come from Edwards or Miles. At least, not now.

We start Big East conference play 2-0 against two teams of which little was expected this year. Now, we go to St. Johns and UConn. We could very easily end the year with two conference losses.

[D-West & PO-Z]

Not sure I am overstating it when I say that was a must win game at home in the BE. Road kills will be tough to come by for this team. We have to beat teams at home, especially the middle tier teams. We need to be at least 8-2 at home imo. Based on what most predict about our record I. The poll (13-7) we’d have to go 5-5 on the road to get to 13-7. Doable but no room for too much error at home.

[X-band '01]

Definitely taking the W tonight - no way Xavier wins this game during the Steele era. The Sean Miller version of Jerome Hunter really saved X tonight on both ends of the floor.

Don't be fooled even though the score was in the 70s, but this was a rock fight that Xavier hadn't faced yet this season. Even nicer to go into Christmas with a W when that normally hasn't been the case in recent years. They'll need the rest with a track meet against the Johnnies looming next week.

[noteggs]

Free NOOOOOOO ... YES!

Sounded like the crowd tonight

Edit: Free played a very good game though

[OTRMUSKIE]

Sounded like the crowd tonight

Edit: Free played a very good game though

Threemantle has done pretty well from outside. I have been impressed of course somebody will show me a stat where he shoots like 18% also Colby had the flu and was puking at half per Miller. Hall is a good team and their defense was going to do that to us. We should look better against the Johnnies but that game will def not be easy.

[XUGRAD80]

It is impossible for a team to play their best bb EVERY night. X certainly didn’t play their best in this game, but they still won. I’m not confident that would have happened the last few seasons, but it happened this season. Why? I point to one thing…assists. 23 assists on 26 made baskets. What does that mean? It means that they are playing TEAM offense. No more one pass and jack up a shot. No more dribble it around the exterior and jack up a shot at the end of the shot clock. They are moving the ball and looking for the open man and the better shot. SE was only giving up 61 points a game and X scored 73. When you look at how badly X shot the ball overall and from 3, and still they scored 12 points more than what teams had been averaging against SE, that’s somewhat impressive. You have to credit the defense of SE for some of their shooting woes, but through playing team BB X was able to overcome that. I’m encouraged by that.

But the defensive still has a long way to go. Way to many easy drives to the basket down the lane. Way to many post up baskets by SE. they are still not rotating well on a regular basis. However, when they did rotate well they were able to draw several charging calls (and they could have gotten a couple of more that were called blocking and weren’t IMO). Jones with the defensive play of the game in the last minute.

X won the battle of the boards and looked better on their defensive rebounding, especially after SE missed a 3 point shot. So there were some encouraging signs that the defense is improving. Still not good, but improving.

8 days until the next game. Take a little break. Get everyone healthy and rested. The Johnies will be a tough road game, but it’s winnable. Go X!

Everyone have a Merry Christmas!

[Masterofreality]

Happy for the W, of course….BUT…

And, look, I LOVE Sean Miller, BUT, I am flabbergasted that against a lousy shooting outside team (other than Dawes(sp?) who drives the ball to the basket EVERY DAMN POSSESSION, Xavier didn’t play a single posession of zone defense in that game last night. Not even with a few guys in somewhat 3 foul trouble. Everyone knew that SH was gonna go to the basket EVERY time, buy the fact that Sean stubbornly refused to even try it just frosts me.
I can love a coach, but still second guess strategy.
I’m glad we won. Merry Christmas.

[Xville]

We should never make a statement like this about a Big East opponent. Tonight, we escaped with a win against a supposedly inferior team on our home court.

First, even though the Banners article says this is a down year for the Big East, it is still the BIG EAST where every single game can turn into a dogfight. The Georgetown game was way tougher than I expected and tonight, Georgetown took it to a vastly superior and richly talented UCONN team in Storrs. Even though they ultimately lost, Ewing had his team ready for the Huskies.

With the transfer portal, it is difficult to evaluate an opponent and predict game outcomes accurately----at least, early in the season. I saw Seton Hall play a few weeks ago and they looked horrible. But many teams have transfers, and it is reasonable to expect some time is needed before the team starts playing together seamlessly. So, tonight, just a couple of weeks later, The Hall is a different team. They had energy and confidence and just took the game to us. Glad they cannot shoot free throws.

Hats off to Hunter but tonight we played a seven-player rotation (not counting Edward's thirty seconds). I cannot imagine we will be able to rely on just seven players going forward. We are now going to be fed a steady diet of wide bodies down low for the balance of the season and we have to get much better help off the bench. If we don't, we will lose of bunch of games. Where will we get that help? Doesn't appear it will come from Edwards or Miles. At least, not now.

We start Big East conference play 2-0 against two teams of which little was expected this year. Now, we go to St. Johns and UConn. We could very easily end the year with two conference losses.

While I understand your sentiment, this x team should beat a bottom 1/3 team in the big East at home by double digits. Outside of hunter and free, the rest of the team played really poorly. Colby had a good stat line and saved our butts there at the end but even he did some questionable things. Anyways, shit happens. A win is a win and on to the next. The next five games are brutal. I hope x can get out of it with a 3-2 record.

[xavierj]

While I understand your sentiment, this x team should beat a bottom 1/3 team in the big East at home by double digits. Outside of hunter and free, the rest of the team played really poorly. Colby had a good stat line and saved our butts there at the end but even he did some questionable things. Anyways, shit happens. A win is a win and on to the next. The next five games are brutal. I hope x can get out of it with a 3-2 record.

Agree except the double digit comment. Teams will have off nights, And with that Seton Hall isn’t terrible. They just beat Rutgers at Rutgers who was coming off drilling Indiana and losing a road gave at Ohio State on a prayer 3. They also beat a pretty good Memphis team. Seton Hall has warts, but they play a hard ugly style that can make things uncomfortable.

[paulxu]

but they play a hard ugly style that can make things uncomfortable.

= Big East

[bleedXblue]

Hall may be one of the better defensive teams we will face all year and we all knew that there was going to be a night where we didn't shoot it well. Add to that Nunge was just not there last night and Kunkel struggled as well. Take the W, Hunter and Free played well and Colby was Colby.

[Smails]

While I understand your sentiment, this x team should beat a bottom 1/3 team in the big East at home by double digits.

On paper..absolutely. On a night where the flu is hitting the team and your starting center forgets how to play basketball..I'll just take it and move on. UCONN was down to Georgetown for a big portion of the second half against a BAD Gtown team at home and gutted out a win. Stoopid nights happen in the BE

[Xavier]

Worst shooting night of the year and still find a way to win. I’ll take it. Figured we couldn’t have a few guys with off nights and still win in the big East. That’s a good sign if nothing else

[OTRMUSKIE]

I’m starting to believe either some people on here are new to the game of basketball and sports in general. Obviously, a better team should win by double digits in their own house. However, that doesn’t always happen in sports. Xavier won, they played sub-par and the unsung hero was not who any of us would have imagined. We have lost 4 straight times to SH at home. Guess what we did last night?

[bleedXblue]

I’m starting to believe either some people on here are new to the game of basketball and sports in general. Obviously, a better team should win by double digits in their own house. However, that doesn’t always happen in sports. Xavier won, they played sub-par and the unsung hero was not who any of us would have imagined. We have lost 4 straight times to SH at home. Guess what we did last night?

LOL, the Vegas line was anywhere from X - 4.5 to 6.5

[Xville]

On paper..absolutely. On a night where the flu is hitting the team and your starting center forgets how to play basketball..I'll just take it and move on. UCONN was down to Georgetown for a big portion of the second half against a BAD Gtown team at home and gutted out a win. Stoopid nights happen in the BE

Yep on paper is what I mean. There are going to be these types of games, I understand and if Colby has the flu, I assume its going thru others as well which may explain some of the wtf last night. A win is a win...on to St.John's.

[Xville]

LOL, the Vegas line was anywhere from X - 4.5 to 6.5

that's not true in the least. It opened at 7.5 and climbed to 9 in some places.

[D-West & PO-Z]

that's not true in the least. It opened at 7.5 and climbed to 9 in some places.

Yeah it was -8.5 for me right before the game started.

[GoMuskies]

Ahem...-375

[bleedXblue]

depending on what betting site you were looking at I saw as low as 4.5 and up to 6.5.....maybe went higher but the point still is valid.... the "win by double digit" crowd did not have reasonable expectations IMHO

[xudash]

While I understand your sentiment, this x team should beat a bottom 1/3 team in the big East at home by double digits. Outside of hunter and free, the rest of the team played really poorly. Colby had a good stat line and saved our butts there at the end but even he did some questionable things. Anyways, shit happens. A win is a win and on to the next. The next five games are brutal. I hope x can get out of it with a 3-2 record.

Does that include vomiting at half-time since he was ill?

[Xville]

depending on what betting site you were looking at I saw as low as 4.5 and up to 6.5.....maybe went higher but the point still is valid.... the "win by double digit" crowd did not have reasonable expectations IMHO

Love to know what betting sites you are looking at because I can make a ton of money on those sites that apparently don’t know how to set lines. Legitimate sites opened at 7.5 and finished at 8.5 and/or 9. Those are the legitimate Vegas lines. When those lines creep up to that neighborhood, double digit win is pretty reasonable. With that said, had no idea flu is going thru the team.

[bleedXblue]

I went back and looked at my browser to see what site it was and I did read it wrong. It was history of our last 10 games against SH.......