It wasn’t always pretty, but my goodness did Xavier need that one.
After the “low point” that was the St. John’s game, you’d be forgiven for thinking this team might struggle on the road in Chicago. They did. For about 13 minutes. They then closed the half on a 21-3 run, which basically ended the game as a contest. DePaul is, obviously, not a very good team, but you can only play who’s put in front of you and Xavier duly dispatched them. Enough preamble, time for takeaways.
Ryan Conwell is still alive
After scoring just 21 points in the last two games combined, Conwell ended with 19 to lead all scorers. It wasn’t his three point shooting that got him there, as he was just 2-7 from deep, but he finally showed signs of life in the second half of this one. He was perfect from inside the arc, perfect from the line, and dished 4 assists with just one turnover. He seemed to find his way through a game where his shot wasn’t falling and found ways to still be effective. If Xavier is to salvage anything from this season, they will need Conwell to find those ways to contribute.
*him figuring out his shot would also be good*
The front court was good?
Zach Freemantle will get his, and that is a fact. Jerome Hunter has struggled to get his, and John Hugely has not known what his is. Today, Big Rome got the start and posted a solid line of 10/6/2 in his 21 minutes of action. He still had butter fingers on seemingly every high-low action, but he was constantly on the offensive glass and got a few of his patented stick-backs. Papa John looked like he was finding his way a bit too. He knocked down the one shot he took, grabbed a couple boards and dished an assist in his limited time. He didn’t set the world alight by any means, but it was a step in the right direction, and one he desperately needed to take.
On to the next one
Yes, beating DePaul was a good thing to do. No, it didn’t turn many heads. The rest of January presents a gauntlet Xavier will have to run well to get the season back. Whether the Muskies found something in themselves today or just beat up on a team worse than them is immaterial. The team just needs to stack wins fast. It doesn’t really matter how they get it done, they just need to get it done.