No. 2 Seed XU will play No.10 Seed DePaul
GAME NOTES
https://goxavier.com/documents/2023/3/6/XAVIER_NOTES_2023_BIG_EAST_QUARTERFINAL.pdf
NEW YORK — The No. 2 Seed Xavier University Musketeers, 23-8 overall and 15-5 in the BIG EAST Conference, earned a first-round bye in this week’s BIG EAST Tournament at Madison Square Garden. XU will play its first game on Thursday at 7 p.m. vs. No. 10 Seed DePaul in a BIG EAST Tournament Quarterfinal matchup.
Xavier moved up to 15th in this week’s Associated Press Poll and 15th in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
THE MATCHUP
NO. 2 SEED XAVIER UNIVERSITY MUSKETEERS
NO. 10 SEED DEPAUL UNIVERSITY BLUE DEMONS
BIG EAST TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS
THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2023 AT 7:00 P.M. ET AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
TV, RADIO & LIVE STATS
Television: FS1 with play by-play from Gus Johnson and analysis from Bill Raftery. Kristina Pink is the sideline reporter.
Xavier Radio: 700 WLW with play-by-play from Xavier Hall of Famer Joe Sunderman (’79) and analysis from XU all-time leading scorer and Hall of Famer Byron Larkin (’88).
Live Stats: Media stats at Stabroadcast.com and fan stats at GoXavier.com.
X FACTORS
Xavier is 6-0 in BIG EAST Tournament Quarterfinal games in its nine years of tourney play.
• Xavier, 23-8 overall and 15-5 in the BIG EAST Conference, is the No. 2 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament.
• Xavier moved up to 15th in this week’s Associated Press Poll and 15th in the USA Today Coaches Poll. XU is No. 16 in the KenPom rankings and No. 22 in the NCAA’s NET ranking.
• Xavier had four players selected by the league coaches for postseason All-BIG EAST Awards.
Graduate student Souley Boum is on the All-BIG EAST First Team, junior Colby Jones (this week’s BIG EAST Player of the Week) is on the Second Team and graduate student Jack Nunge earned All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention. Desmond Claude is on the All-Freshman Team.
• Xavier leads the BIG EAST in four major offensive categories: first in the nation in assists per game at 19.9 apg., third in the nation in overall field goal percentage (.500), fifth in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.398) and 10th in the nation in scoring offense at 82.1 ppg. XU is second in the BIG EAST and 10th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.55.
• Xavier’s Souley Boum, the team’s leading scorer at 16.8 ppg. (second in the BIG EAST), scored a Xavier career-high 33 points at Providence. Boum, a Third Team All-American (College Hoops Today), is fifth among active career scorers in NCAA Division I with 2,374 points.
• Xavier’s Colby Jones, who leads the team in assists at 4.6 apg. (fifth in the BIG EAST), is second on the team in scoring at 15.3 ppg. (eighth in the BIG EAST). Jones has averaged 22.7 ppg. and shot .742 (23-31) from the field during the current three-game win streak. Jones has 982 career points and is just 18 points shy of joining the Xavier 1,000 Point Club.
• Xavier senior Jerome Hunter, who has recorded 11 of his 12 double-figure scoring games in BIG EAST Conference play, is averaging 10.2 ppg., 6.2 rpg. and 2.0 apg. for the last nine games since entering the starting lineup to replace the injured Zach Freemantle.
• Xavier’s Jack Nunge is third on the team in scoring at 14.0 ppg. (14th in the BIG EAST) and leads the team in rebounding at 7.7 rpg. (fourth in the BIG EAST rankings). Nunge is tied for fourth in the BIG EAST in 3-pt. percentage at .412 (35-85).
• Xavier senior Adam Kunkel is fourth on the team in scoring at 10.3 ppg. Kunkel has 16 double-figure scoring games for the season, including 18 points on Saturday in the Butler win.
COURTESY XAVIER ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
