Xavier and Seton Hall play completely different styles.
X has a lot of offensively versatile players. They play a very fast style with crisp passing, strong 3-pt shooting and they value each possession with just a 13% Turnover Rate which is 11th nationally. They are #2 in the Nation in Assists per FG Attempted and 45th in 3pt shooting at 36.7%. Just about every player in their rotation is a threat from 3 except for 1 backup Big. They have a lot of Team & Positional Height but they play a 5-out, finesse style that looks for 3s. They don't get to the Foul Line often, they don't shoot well in the Paint or on 2's in general. Despite their height and starting 3 guys 6'8 to 6'10", they get blocked a lot and are not good at offensive rebounding.
Their offense can light it up. In their last 4 games they have averaged 90.5 points per game including 2 tight losses to Creighton and St.Johns. They have had trouble winning close games with their last 3 losses being by a combined 7 points.
Defensively, they are not very good. They can be exposed in the Paint and allow 53.7% FG% on 2's. They are a good defensive rebounding team.
We can't let them go off from 3. And we have to figure out our offense to get some points of our own. We've only broken 66 once in the last 6 games. We need to win the Free Throw battle....get there more and convert. And we need to crush them in Paint Points. My gut says Xavier will win but my heart says we find a way to win a close one, 73-71 SH.
