Eastern Michigan was a much bigger challenge than Monday night’s game. EMU came out and started 7-0, forcing an early 30 second timeout from coach Pitino. Eastern Michigan maintained an advantage, leading 18-11 with 12:04 remaining in the first half. From that point forward, Xavier took control of the game. The under eight media timeout took place with 7:00 remaining in the first half. Xavier came back from that and took the lead off of two free throws from Tru Washington. Xavier closed the half on a 15-5 run over the final seven minutes.

EMU came out of the half and immediately put pressure back on Xavier with a 4-0 run. However, Xavier’s Filip Borovicanin answered with two layups to get the Xavier lead to 38-29. With 14:45 remaining in the game, Chance Westry hit a layup which put the Musketeers up 10 points. The game never got under double figures again. It took another 10 minutes before Xavier was able to put the final nail in the coffin on this one, though, using a 3 minute, 10-0 run to extend the lead to 66-46. The game ended 76-53.

After making just 10 field goals and going 2-10 from deep in the first half, Xavier’s offensive efficiency significantly improved. They stopped settling for three point shots and took the ball to the rim. They were rewarded with a 70% performance from the field in the second half, which was double their first half mark.

Takeaways:

Rebounding: Xavier was out rebounded by Eastern Michigan 39-33 in tonight’s matchup, giving up 18 offensive boards. Postgame, coach Pitino acknowledged the team’s struggles while also giving some credit to Eastern Michigan and their fight on the glass. Nevertheless , he said Xavier will need to be better to compete with the Big East.

Free Throw Shooting: Xavier got to the line 25 times, which is a number that Coach Pitino was happy with. However, they hit just 15 of those attempts. Gabriel Pozzato and Aligbe were the two who struggled the most, going 1-3 and 1-4 respectively from the line. Postgame, when asked, Pitino pointed straight to Pozzato stating “ask him”. While there was a brief chuckle after the fact, it points to an area the Musketeers must improve on headed into next week.

Defense: The Musketeer defense was thought to be improved this season, and that’s coming true right before our eyes. Last season, Xavier allowed more than 60 points in all but one matchup. That was Missouri State, where they won 75-57. They gave up 1.09 points per possession. Game one was a 52 point performance, while game two was 53 points. While these teams are not good in the grand scheme of things, that’s still something last season’s team was unable to do. Through 2 games, Xavier’s defense is profiling as the 8th best in the country, with a .80 point per possession mark. This is clearly a small sample and will go up, but this progress is something that Xavier sorely missed a year ago.

Steals: Xavier finished with just 8 fastbreak points, however, they put up 25 points off turnovers (22 EMU turnovers), while giving up just 4 points off their 12 turnovers. This team likes to play at a fast pace, but tonight, they showed they’ve got the poise and awareness to pull the ball out when needed and not rush into anything out of control

Points in the Paint: Xavier absolutely dominated the paint tonight, winning this area 52-16. Once the game settled in a bit, it was clear the jumpers weren’t falling for Xavier. As good teams often do, they pivoted and made adjustments. Their physicality and interior presence shined through tonight as they dominated down low.

Bench Points: Xavier led the battle off the bench 40-17. They received significant boosts from Chance Westry (13 points), Nikos Chitikoudis (9 points, 6 rebounds), and Kalek House (6 points, 7 assists). Rolyns Aligbe, while not necessarily showing huge numbers on the stat sheet, is a big, bruising presence down low that helps Xavier stay physical, even when going to the bench.

Injury Updates: Both Asher Elson and Braden Appelhans were not dressed tonight. Appelhans is in a walking boot and will be out for a couple of weeks. Elson is almost all the way back, and actually participated in warmups. There’s a chance he plays Tuesday evening.