The Xavier Musketeers clinched their first outright Big East regular season title Saturday with a 65-62 win over DePaul. They finished conference play with a 15-3 record. This was one game better than second place Villanova.
Xavier Musketeers Win First Outright Big East Title
Player of the Year candidate Trevon Bluiett led Xavier with 19.4 points per game and also grabbed 5.6 rebounds per game. J.P. Macura added 12.6 points per game while shooting 46.4 percent from deep. These two seniors provided leadership and experience which helped Xavier win the Big East.
The Musketeers have been one of the best teams in the country all season. They climbed as high as three in the national rankings and have spent many weeks in the top five. The Big East tournament begins Wednesday, March 7 and Xavier will enter as the number one seed. They also have a great chance to be chosen as one of the four number one seeds on Selection Sunday.
Xavier’s Big East History
Since joining the Big East in 2013-2014, Xavier has compiled a 57-33 record in conference play. They finished second in 2015-2016 going 14-4. The Musketeers have yet to win the Big East tournament since coming over from the Atlantic 10.
They have not fared well in the big dance either. Xavier reached the Elite Eight last season as an 11 seed but could not advance to the Final Four over Gonzaga.
This could be a magical year for the Musketeers, as they are built for success in March. They have the experience, playmakers and leadership to make a run come tournament time.
Big East Tournament
Xavier will play the winner of St. John’s and Georgetown on Thursday. The Musketeers suffered three losses in conference play and two of them were to Villanova. The Wildcats have beaten Xavier 10 out of 11 times since becoming conference foes, nine of them have been by double digits.
The two teams could meet for a third time this year in the championship game of the tournament. If you’re Xavier, you have to be hoping for Villanova to get upset. The Wildcats didn’t have a great month of February. Their shooting numbers were down and they did not play the perfect brand of basketball we are used to.
As the two seed, Villanova will play the winner of Marquette and DePaul in their first game of the tournament. The third matchup on Saturday night between the two behemoths in the Big East is the game that everyone wants to see.
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