Xavier never really got up through the gears, but a win is a win.
So, perhaps that was not the blowout we all wanted to see, but a win is a win. This one was not pretty at that start, or through the middle, and the ending was not that beautiful either. One moment of true beauty was Zach Freemantle being announced in the Cintas Center and embracing Jerome Hunter at the end of the line. Seeing those two guys out on the floor again after so many injury setbacks was a welcome sight, and a big feel-good moment.
Game recap
X got off to a slow start and seemed content to just chuck up every three they laid eyes on. Grayson Carter, who Brad bagged on while live tweeting despite being the type of dude he would love on his own team, dropped a couple threes and a couple grown men during this stretch. [Ed. note: This might be true, but he’s not on my team and I hate him.] As the game grew, Xavier found some momentum through relentlessly attacking the rim, which led to 41 attempts from the line. Big Frosty looked smooth throughout the game, and forced the issue against the outmatched defense on his way to a 19/11/2 line.
While Freemantle did damage in the paint, Ryan Conwell was the only Musketeer to get much going from deep. On a night where Xavier shot a shocking 6-23 (26%) from deep, Conwell shot a cool 5-10 (I’m not doing that math for you) from beyond the arc. Conwell seemed to have it all going as he led the team with 21 points, pulled three boards, and threw in 3 steals and a block for good measure. Dayvion McKnight was just as influential in the backcourt, as he did his usual thing of pushing the pace and quietly stuffing the stat sheet. McKnight put up 19/1/5 with no turnovers in 29 minutes of play, which is light work for this dude.
Ultimately, X was just too good to lose this one. It looked like a bunch of guys who know they can play just got into second gear and set the cruise control. It’s no secret that that’s not a repeatable recipe for success, and it probably leaves some people with a few more questions about this team that they didn’t want to ask.
Takeaways
Frosty and Jerome look healthy – As has been well documented, these guys haven’t been healthy in a while. However, Freemantle played a solid 33 minutes and Jerome put in 20. Both looked to be moving freely and playing without trepidation. Frosty looked like his old self and Jerome, who couldn’t buy a bucket, scrapped his way through the paint the way you’d expect him to.
I hope the bench doesn’t become a concern – Okay, it was one game but this deserves to be a talking point. Four of the starters went for double digits and combined for 73 points. For all of you math-haters out there, that leaves just five points for five other guys. Not great. When you also consider that they shot a combined 0-16, the situation looks bleak. It’s not time for the panic alarm yet, but it’s something to monitor.