Game Thread: Xavier v Seton Hall (12/31/2024)

[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?$HomePageRecs_ET$


CINCINNATI --- The Xavier University Musketeers, 8-5 overall and 0-2 in the BIG EAST Conference, host the Seton Hall University Pirates, 5-8 overall and 0-2 in the BIG EAST, on Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. at Cintas Center. Xavier is shooting to snap a three-game losing streak. XU has lost three-straight games to AP Top 25 teams by a combined 10 points, including a pair of road games.

Xavier has been idle since falling 72-20 to No. 9 Marquette on Dec. 21 at Cintas Center.

THE MATCHUP

XAVIER UNIVERSITY MUSKETEERS (8-5, 0-2 BIG EAST)
SETON HALL UNIVERSITY PIRATES (5-8, 0-2 BIG EAST)
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2024 AT 2 P.M. ET
AT CINTAS CENTER IN CINCINNATI, OHIO

TV, RADIO AND LIVE STATS

TV/Stream: Peacock with play-by-play from Justin Kutcher and analysis from Robbie Hummel. Note: Peacock will broadcast this game, two other XU regular season games and possibly some BIG EAST Tournament action. There is more on Peacock at peacocktv.com.
Xavier 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 is also available on the Varsity Network and on Sirius XM.

Live Stats: Media stats at Statbroadcast.com (http://Statbroadcast.com) and fan stats at GoXavier.com (http://GoXavier.com)

[Xville]

X -9.5 which is pretty far off kenpom.. o/u 132.5… so low it seems we should all bet the under

[X-band '01]

Seton Hall has a slightly better defense per KenPom, but their offense is way, way down in the 300s.

[Xville]

Expecting a livelier crowd hopefully. Ticket sales seem to be better on the 3rd party sites which is encouraging. Start Drinking early and don’t stop. I’ll be in 207 come say hi Lou I know you’ll be there

[xukeith]

Anyone know what day the team resumed practice after Christmas? Maybe December 27? Just curious.

[paulxu]

Why the hell is this game on Peacock?

[Xville]

Anyone know what day the team resumed practice after Christmas? Maybe December 27? Just curious.

I saw Thursday

[GoMuskies]

I pounded the ML on this one. I can't trust this team to cover any number, but surely we can beat Seton Hall at home, right?

[bjf123]

Why the hell is this game on Peacock?

It’s all about the $$$$. Just need to pony up more to watch. I subscribed to ESPN+ to watch the two games on that and promptly canceled it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bjf123]

Check this out. Deal on Peacock today only. According to Shelby, the first day of the BET will be on Peacock. [emoji2959]

https://x.com/enquirershelby/status/1874165575750213661?s=46&t=BFaRhpzSZFkQ7RbyDYbL8g


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[xu82]

It’s all about the $$$$. Just need to pony up more to watch. I subscribed to ESPN+ to watch the two games on that and promptly canceled it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This reminds me of all the commercials I see for services that can track and cancel your subscriptions. I already have Peacock for Dan Patrick and I caved in a weak moment to see some NFL games. I did NOT get ESPN+, and if I didn’t have Peacock already I’d miss this game too. Screw ‘em! I’m not getting bullied into more things I don’t want to see a sporting event.

[paulxu]

Good start.

[bjf123]

This reminds me of all the commercials I see for services that can track and cancel your subscriptions. I already have Peacock for Dan Patrick and I caved in a weak moment to see some NFL games. I did NOT get ESPN+, and if I didn’t have Peacock already I’d miss this game too. Screw ‘em! I’m not getting bullied into more things I don’t want to see a sporting event.

I try to subscribe thru Apple whenever I can. One place to see everything and it’s an easy one click to cancel. Sadly, that’s not an option for all services.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MHettel]

Peacock is awful.

Tons of latency with the remote. Push a button, wait 5 seconds something happens. Lost the audio for a stretch. Video was choppy for awhile, then it dropped. I got randomly kicked off and it took 3 minutes to load it back up and find the game. Very annoying

[xudash]

Peacock is awful.

Tons of latency with the remote. Push a button, wait 5 seconds something happens. Lost the audio for a stretch. Video was choppy for awhile, then it dropped. I got randomly kicked off and it took 3 minutes to load it back up and find the game. Very annoying

I signed up for it yesterday. I already had Xfinity as my cable provider. So far the experience has been totally smooth, and I have to say that the production quality is pretty good.

[xu82]

I signed up for it yesterday. I already had Xfinity as my cable provider. So far the experience has been totally smooth, and I have to say that the production quality is pretty good.

It has actually functioned just fine for me from a technical standpoint, but I didn’t find it to be intuitively user friendly. I justified getting it so I can watch Dan Patrick in the morning. If you go to Peacock and search for Dan Patrick it will list episodes for you. PREVIOUS episodes. At the top of the list is the show from the previous day. Friday’s show is no good to me on Monday after a weekend of games.

After digging I discovered that you have to go to the icons on the left of the screen and go down to channels. It should be more obvious in some way, imo. FYI, just in case you ever try to find DP.

[xudash]

Our only healthy center is coming to life?

[ArizonaXUGrad]

No Fletcher? Miller not playing him just to save his time for more crucial games?

[Xavier]

Seeing on Twitter that they said on the broadcast that Freemantle is practicing with the team. Did anyone else hear that?

[xu82]

Our only healthy center is coming to life?

I didn’t realize he could do some of the things I’ve seen him do today.

[SkyWalker]

Yes, I heard that about Freemantle on the broadcast too.

[bjf123]

This ref show is getting ridiculous. Some of us have places to go!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bjf123]

X -9.5 which is pretty far off kenpom.. o/u 132.5… so low it seems we should all bet the under

Hope no one listened to you!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Xville]

Hope no one listened to you!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No kidding! Didn’t know it was going to turn into a ref show!

[Xville]

Good confidence builder game which is exactly what I wanted to see. Maybe this can give hugley some life. Man seton hall is gawd awful though.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

I am concerned about Holloway's job. I like the guy, he is actually recruiting a co-worker's kid. This is what year 3 for him? Did he start with Miller?

[Xville]

I am concerned about Holloway's job. I like the guy, he is actually recruiting a co-worker's kid. This is what year 3 for him? Did he start with Miller?

From what I’ve heard their nil is extremely low. I dunno what a coach in the big East with little nil is supposed to do

[ArizonaXUGrad]

From what I’ve heard their nil is extremely low. I dunno what a coach in the big East with little nil is supposed to do

Fun day for sports, we roll and Michigan hung on against 'Bama with both teams playing what they will have in 2025. KU loses at home, ASU in Utah for basketball, and PSU/BSU after.

Who bought stuff to grill/smoke for the games tomorrow?

[XUBison]

I am concerned about Holloway's job. I like the guy, he is actually recruiting a co-worker's kid. This is what year 3 for him? Did he start with Miller?

I am concerned for this board. Less than three pages on a game thread, for a BE game?

[ArizonaXUGrad]

I am concerned for this board. Less than three pages on a game thread, for a BE game?

New Year's Eve day game when we are working and the team is down. Those with PTO aren't posting, those at work might be might not be. Perfect storm for low participation.

[drudy23]

No kidding! Didn’t know it was going to turn into a ref show!

James Breeding special, like always.

I have no clue how this guy continues to do Big East games. He turns every game into a free throw fest. He’s the worst ref out there and X gets him all the time. He consistently calls games like this.

[noteggs]

I really liked Sean’s rotations this game. More of a one for one vs multiple subs. Best ball movement since the Free injury.

[Jumpin_Jamal_Forever]

Listened to Byron and Joe on way home after the game. In their post-game interview, Miller made some interesting, and for me, unexpected comments.

Joe and Byron were highly complimentary of Maddox and set Miller up to say some nice things about him but Miller kind of went in the opposite direction. Paraphrasing Miller, he said that while Maddox's shooting was great, the team needs him to be a committed defender and a reliable ball handler against the press. It was Miller's tone and syntax that struck me as a bit odd given the win. He emphasized the negative more than the positive. No doubt Miller was not happy with our performance against the Hall's second half press.

But, it was Miller's comment about Hugely that really got my attention. After the predictable set-up question, "Gee Sean, John Hugely played well today.......", Miller's response was "better late than never" and "today was the first game all year that John helped us. This is what we recruited him for and today was the first time he contributed in a positive way". Miller was direct and even a bit cold. Not that Miller was wrong----many of us have been saying the same thing all year. I guess I just didn't expect Miller to be quite so candid.

I'm sure the season has worn on him. Definitely not a bunch of positive post-game gobbeldy-gook that one might expect.

[MHettel]

Weird game.

51 fouls. 6 players with 4 fouls or more. 11 players with 3 or more fouls.

64 total free throws, with 50 made. 78%.

We gave up 15 offensive rebounds on 38 opponent missed shots. 39.5! Need to clean that up ASAP.

We had 9 blocks and 7 steals.

They took 14 more shots than us…..and we won by 22.

Yeah, weird.

[X-band '01]

I just hope Xavier doesn't get in quick foul trouble when they take on Georgetown come Friday. They do have some nice big men of their own, but they're going to be in an unfamiliar role when they'll be a slight favorite on Friday.

Definitely great seeing some balanced scoring and liked both Hunter and Hugley getting productive games against a Hall team that was supposed to be a halfway decent defensive team. Clearly that was not on display today.

[X-band '01]

Listened to Byron and Joe on way home after the game. In their post-game interview, Miller made some interesting, and for me, unexpected comments.

Joe and Byron were highly complimentary of Maddox and set Miller up to say some nice things about him but Miller kind of went in the opposite direction. Paraphrasing Miller, he said that while Maddox's shooting was great, the team needs him to be a committed defender and a reliable ball handler against the press. It was Miller's tone and syntax that struck me as a bit odd given the win. He emphasized the negative more than the positive. No doubt Miller was not happy with our performance against the Hall's second half press.

But, it was Miller's comment about Hugely that really got my attention. After the predictable set-up question, "Gee Sean, John Hugely played well today.......", Miller's response was "better late than never" and "today was the first game all year that John helped us. This is what we recruited him for and today was the first time he contributed in a positive way". Miller was direct and even a bit cold. Not that Miller was wrong----many of us have been saying the same thing all year. I guess I just didn't expect Miller to be quite so candid.

I'm sure the season has worn on him. Definitely not a bunch of positive post-game gobbeldy-gook that one might expect.

It was one of the few times Miller actually did the postgame interview instead of sending an assistant, and even then Joe and Byron had to wait a while. That's what told me that he was probably having an extended postgame chat with the team.

They did look a bit sloppy at times, but it's also indicative of a mindset that Xavier is going to face more difficult opposition the next two games.

[Three Point Pete]

I didn’t realize he could do some of the things I’ve seen him do today.Alright, maybe Hugely got a bad rap from some of our posts. I like to see him hanging around the nail, disrupting traffic coming through the key. He is quicker than a lot of other post players when curling back to the rim. He can score (career 48% FG) or draw the foul. He may not be the best rebounder or rim protector, but neither was Chris Bosch.


Sent from my SM-A326U using Tapatalk

[Xville]

I don’t expect miller to be all that positive against a team like that. Hall really sucks. In person, they look like a buy team.

Anyways, to me miller was just again empathisizing how we have lost games this year against quad 1 teams because we didn’t take care of the ball and he’s hoping to encourage Maddox to fix that issue and to be a second ball handler he can trust. Nothing wrong with that.

As far as hugley, he’s been as frustrated with him as all of us have been. It’s nice to see him get some run and hopefully find some confidence. Hope it shows up again the rest of the season.

[XUGRAD80]

While SE is anything but a tournament caliber team, and the refs must have be planning to spend NYE in Cincinnati and seemingly didn’t have a plane to catch, it’s still a BE win. Accept it for what it is and move on. It’s a small fish, but it’s still a catch. Perhaps the sky isn’t falling after all.

[Jumpin_Jamal_Forever]

Alright, maybe Hugely got a bad rap from some of our posts. I like to see him hanging around the nail, disrupting traffic coming through the key. He is quicker than a lot of other post players when curling back to the rim. He can score (career 48% FG) or draw the foul. He may not be the best rebounder or rim protector, but neither was Chris Bosch.


Sent from my SM-A326U using Tapatalk

Whoa. Tap the brakes. I'm as pleased as you or anybody else to see Hugely wake up from his season long hibernation. But SH is a lousy team and their Bigs are pretty bad. Even with his eleven points, Hugely shot about 50% from the free throw line and incurred a couple of bonehead fouls.

As Miller said, maybe today leads to a second decent game and if that happens maybe a third. But Hugely, from everything I've seen, is still likely to be a disappointment this season. Hope I'm wrong.

[Xville]

While SE is anything but a tournament caliber team, and the refs must have be planning to spend NYE in Cincinnati and seemingly didn’t have a plane to catch, it’s still a BE win. Accept it for what it is and move on. It’s a small fish, but it’s still a catch. Perhaps the sky isn’t falling after all.

I can accept this. As I said before the game, I just wanted this to be a confidence builder. If they use this, to win at least 3 of the next four, this team may have something and who knows, maybe free is back after that.

[XUGRAD80]

I can accept this. As I said before the game, I just wanted this to be a confidence builder. If they use this, to win at least 3 of the next four, this team may have something and who knows, maybe free is back after that.

We may see Free sooner than that.

[xu82]

The Mystery Man.

[Three Point Pete]

Whoa. Tap the brakes. I'm as pleased as you or anybody else to see Hugely wake up from his season long hibernation. But SH is a lousy team and their Bigs are pretty bad. Even with his eleven points, Hugely shot about 50% from the free throw line and incurred a couple of bonehead fouls.

As Miller said, maybe today leads to a second decent game and if that happens maybe a third. But Hugely, from everything I've seen, is still likely to be a disappointment this season. Hope I'm wrong.Sometimes, hard work and a great attitude in practice take a while to translate into game performance. Coach was very honest when he said this was the first game that John played this year, so I can also believe that John has a great attitude and work ethic.

I agree that we have to go one game at a time, but I've seen some good moves that and hope John keeps getting better.

As for the "bone head fouls" because
the zebras call (unbelievable)51 "fouls", clearly logic dictates that about half of them are bogus.

Hopefully, John will approach his career FT 71%!



Sent from my SM-A326U using Tapatalk

[Xuperman]

Weird game.

51 fouls. 6 players with 4 fouls or more. 11 players with 3 or more fouls.

64 total free throws, with 50 made. 78%.

We gave up 15 offensive rebounds on 38 opponent missed shots. 39.5! Need to clean that up ASAP.

We had 9 blocks and 7 steals.

They took 14 more shots than us…..and we won by 22.

Yeah, weird.

Maybe the weirdest of all.

McKnight misses 4 of 8 free throws..... TWO front ends. He only missed FOUR total this season before today.....90%.

[Xville]

Sometimes, hard work and a great attitude in practice take a while to translate into game performance. Coach was very honest when he said this was the first game that John played this year, so I can also believe that John has a great attitude and work ethic.

I agree that we have to go one game at a time, but I've seen some good moves that and hope John keeps getting better.

As for the "bone head fouls" because
the zebras call (unbelievable)51 "fouls", clearly logic dictates that about half of them are bogus.

Hopefully, John will approach his career FT 71%!



Sent from my SM-A326U using Tapatalk

Hopefully this is the game that propels him forward and not just a one game wonder

[webxu]

Hopefully this is the game that propels him forward and not just a one game wonder

I thought I heard somewhere before the season that Miller indicated that Big John would need some time to learn to play in his new body and that January was around that time he thought it would be. Lets hope yesterday was a sign of more to come!

[Xville]

Lou I didn’t see you there? Where were you? You Got a big keyboard dong, but not one in real life tiny dancer