The Xavier Musketeers wrapped up their preseason play Friday night as they hosted the Kent State Golden Flashes, picking up a 76-70 win. We saw plenty of things, both good and bad from the Musketeers. Below, you can find 8 takeaways, 5 positive and 3 negative.

Box Score:

Find the full live game notes here:

The Good

Filip Borovicanin is adjusting well, as he put up a near triple-double tonight with 8 points, 9 rebounds and ten assists. Postgame, he felt as the adjustments have been easy to make as the Musketeers have a ton of depth, which is “very different from the previous two teams we had”. Filip is the perfect example of a “glue guy”, as he can put up solid numbers in all categories on the stat sheet.

Mike Nwoko’s defensive discipline looked much improved tonight, as he only committed two fouls in 28 minutes of play. Coach Pitino said that “we’ve worked extra with him every day after practice on the fouling piece.” That extra work seems to have led to major improvements. Having Nwoko on the court for longer periods of time will be crucial to the Musketeers success.

Jovan Milicevic had a great game, putting up 17 points on 6/13 shooting. Pitino said “He’s probably our most consistent worker on a daily basis and it’s showing on the court”. Jovan is a key piece to this Xavier squad and he delivered multiple sparks to help the Musketeers to a win.

Tru Washington was a spark on both sides of the ball tonight, putting up 12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals. His defensive vigor energized the team in the first half, helping them to a nine-point lead at half. On top of that, he did a little bit of everything on offense. Tru is also considered a “glue guy” for Xavier, meaning the Musketeers have two do-it-all guys on their roster.

The team showed resilience late in the game, fighting back and grabbing the win. With around eight minutes left to play, Kent State went up by five. Xavier fought back quickly, taking a 62-59 lead with 5:35 to go. That’s now two exhibitions this year that the Musketeers have successfully fended off runs from opposing teams late in the game, this level of fight and poise under pressure will be huge in the regular season.

The Bad

In the second half, Xavier played a selfish brand of basketball for around 13 minutes. They consistently settled for poor shots and allowed their 9 point halftime lead to dwindle to the point where they trailed by as many as 5 points. Pitino postgame stated the team was “playing the wrong kind of basketball” after the intermission.

Inconsistent play from Chance Westry throughout the 3 games. Now that we are through 3 exhibitions, it’s clear that Chance is still struggling to find his footing with this Xavier team. The more that Tru Washington and Filip Borovicanin stand out, the more that Chance’s minutes seemingly get cut into. This is without standout freshman Kalek House on the court as he battles an injury. Chance is the type of player who, if unlocked, could significantly raise the ceiling of this team. He’s got to get in better shape and give 100% effort on defense consistently to find his footing.

Free throw shooting was a concern tonight, as Xavier finished just 15-24 (62%) from the stripe. Mike Nwoko (4-9) and Chance Westry (1-4) shouldered much of those struggles from the line. Over three exhibitions, Xavier has gone 16-25, 17-30, and 15-25 from the free throw line in these three exhibitions. They will need to be better than 48-80 (60%) from the free throw line this season or they will lose multiple games.

Looking Ahead

After three exhibitions, it’s clear this team still has a lot to work on, and while they’re not at full strength yet, the rotations are clearly starting to come into focus as we move towards regular season play. If we were projecting a starting 5 to open the year, we’d go with: Tru Washington, Ruben Dominguez, Filip Borovicanin, Jovan Milicivic, and Mike Nwoko. The first guys off the bench would be Aligbe, Pozzato, and Westry. When healthy, House will play into the mix as well. One rotation question that will bleed into the year is where does Nikos Chitikoudis fit into the rotation?

The Musketeers open the regular season Nov. 2 at the Cintas Center when they host Mount St. Mary’s.