College Basketball Game of the Week: Xavier vs. Providence
The final scheduled matchup of ranked Big East teams features the No. 19 Xavier Musketeers (21-8) traveling to Rhode Island to take on the No. 20 Providence Friars (21-8).
The Musketeers and Friars have not only identical overall records, at 21-8, but also identical conference records as they are both 13-5 and tied for second in the Big East.
Xavier opened up its conference schedule by winning seven straight. However, since then the Musketeers have gone only 6-5 with four out of those five losses being by only one possession.
The Friars are coming into this game looking to make it back to back games in the win column as they handled their business in their last matchup with a 20 point win over Georgetown. They are also looking to stay undefeated at home this season as they have won all 15 of their home games this season.
Xavier’s top 10 offense is led by senior guard Souley Boum who averages over 16 points per game. Boum is joined in the backcourt by Colby Jones, who leads the team in both assists and steals and Adam Kunkel who averages over 10 points per game. These three have been the main contributors in making the Musketeers a top four team in three point percentage.
Down low the Musketeers frontcourt features two of the top five rebounders in the Big East in Zach Freemantle and Jack Nunge. Together they average 16 rebounds per game and are both key pieces to the success of the Xavier offense.
Providence is led by Bryce Hopkins who transferred onto the Friars after playing just six minutes a game last season at Kentucky. Since coming to Providence, Hopkins has been a star as he is top five in points per game and is second in rebounds per game in the Big East.
The Friars also have a trio of seniors that features the primary distributor Jared Bynum, as well as Ed Crosswell and Noah Locke. Rounding out the starting lineup is sophomore Devin Carter who is a transfer from South Carolina.
In the first matchup between these two teams this year, it was Xavier who ended up coming out on top in a back and forth battle that went to overtime by a score of 85-83. Nunge was the star of the show as he had a game high 23 points and 14 rebounds in that contest that featured five players who scored 20 or more points.
Both of these teams are sitting very comfortably in the projected March Madness field as ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Friars as a projected seven seed and the Musketeers as a four seed in his latest bracketology update.
ESPN’s Matchup Predictor gives the Friars a 63% chance to get revenge on the Musketeers and to keep their undefeated home streak alive.
Tune in on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. on FS1 for this top 25 matchup between the two teams battling for second place in the Big East.
Lucas McDowell is a freshman majoring in accounting. To contact him, please email lvm5808@psu.edu.
