Fresh off of their fourth conference loss of the season and losers of five of their last seven games, the Xavier Musketeers (9-7, 1-4 Big East) appear to be a team in freefall. Despite a 6-0 start to their season, the Musketeers have failed to establish themselves in a crowded Big East conference field. After an 82-72 home loss to the St. John’s Red Storm (13-3, 4-1 Big East) on Tuesday, Musketeers head coach Sean Miller appears to be fed up.
Speaking to the media after the game, Miller told reporters that he was struggling to find any positives from the loss.
“ There are times when your team loses and you feel really good about the effort, the togetherness, and a lot of things that happen in a game. There are times when your team loses and you feel really good about the effort, the togetherness, and a lot of things that happen in a game. This is our low point.”
St. John’s, despite only making 2 of their 16 three-point shot attempts, domintaed Xavier throughout the game. They forced the Musketeers into 12 turnovers on the night and out-rebounded Xavier 50-30. Sean Miller offered high praise to St. John’s after the game.
“They’re not making a lot of 3-point shots over the last couple of games, but if you want to talk about a hard playing, tough minded group, I don’t know if there is a team in the country that embodies those qualities better than them. They exposed us at a very high level.”
Xavier Musketeers’ Low Point
Miller referred to the loss Tuesday night as a low point in the Xavier Musketeers’ season, and it’s hard to argue with that point. They sit near the bottom of the standings in the Big East, with only one conference win against Seton Hall on their record. Their current run of form has seen them lose seven of their last ten games after starting the season 6-0. Despite late close games against some of the conference’s top teams, Xavier has failed to close out these games. The Musketeers either led or were within one possession in the final three minutes of games against UConn, Marquette, and Georgetown but failed to capitalize and win any of them.
St. John’s Resurgence Under Rick Pitino
On the other side of the court Tuesday night, the St. John’s Red Storm are off to their best start in years. Now in the second year of the Rick Pitino era, the Red Storm improved to 13-3 with the win and are 4-1 in Big East play. Pitino went 20-13 in his first season as the team’s head coach and declined a bid to last year’s NIT tournament after missing out on a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive year.
Once a perennial member of the NCAA Tournament’s field of 68 teams, the Red Storm are hoping that Pitino can lead them to their first Sweet Sixteen appearance since 1999. Pitino is hoping to win his first NCAA Tournament game as a coach since 2017 when he was the head coach of the Louisville Cardinals.
The Musketeers will have a chance to right the ship on January 11 when they travel to Chicago for a matchup with the DePaul Blue Demons (9-7, 0-5 Big East). The Blue Demons have also struggled in Big East play, losing their first five conference games.
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