Xavier Heads to Providence Looking to Reverse Its Fortunes

Xavier head coach Travis Steele is looking for some inspiration after Saturday’s 72-61 loss at UConn meant his Musketeers had dropped to 1-4 in their last five games.

Down a 10 point per game scorer in sharpshooting Nate Johnson, Xavier cut Connecticut’s 17 point halftime lead to four in the second half, but couldn’t get over the hump.

When Steele met with the media on Monday, he spoke of the struggles that both the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals persevered through prior to reaching the Super Bowl, then went for an example a bit closer to home — Xavier’s surprising run in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.

“The best run we’ve had since I’ve been at Xavier, we lost six games in a row there toward the end of the season. We barely beat DePaul in the Big East Tournament the first night. Then we barely beat Butler the next night, and then we lost to Creighton in the semifinal game of the Big East that year,” Steele said.

“Then, shoot, three weeks later we’re in the Elite Eight, 40 minutes away from the Final Four. We had to win all of those games, quite honestly, just to get into the Tournament.”

The 2017 Xavier team upset six seeded Maryland in the NCAA Tournament, and followed that up by knocking off a three seed in Florida State, and second seeded Arizona, before falling to Gonzaga in the Elite Eight.

Outside of Villanova, that was the deepest tournament run of any Big East team since realignment.

Steele was an assistant at the time, and his tenure has been hampered by late-season swoons. He had a six-game conference losing streak in his first season at the helm at Xavier, likely would have been sweating out Selection Sunday two years ago (had the tournament taken place) after closing out the season with three straight losses, and last year’s team went 2-6 in its final eight games after starting the season 8-0.

The 2021-22 Musketeers have the talent to make a push in March. They started the season 11-1 and currently stand at 17-9 overall and 7-8 in the Big East — a resume good enough for a #25 NET ranking, despite their recent struggles.

They have had their share of tough losses — a buzzer beater against Providence at home, 64-60 against Villanova, 73-71 at Seton Hall, 69-65 to DePaul — and have wins over nationally ranked opponents in UConn and Ohio State.

Wednesday night’s game against Providence at the Dunkin Donuts Center will feature two of the deepest teams in the Big East. Xavier has five players averaging at least 9.8 points per game, and eight different players have led them in scoring this year.

Seven foot Iowa transfer Jack Nunge presents their biggest mismatch — a skilled center who is averaging over 17 points per game in his last five.

When X is at their best they are punishing opponents on the glass (both Nunge and sophomore Colby Jones average over seven boards per game), with super senior Paul Scruggs getting into the paint to open the floor up for solid shooters in Nate Johnson and former Belmont transfer Adam Kunkel.

This season has been an uphill climb for Zach Freemantle, who missed time early this year due to foot surgery. Freemantle averaged 16.1 points and 8.9 rebounds last year, but has seen his numbers dip to 9.8 points and 5.4 boards a game. He shot 51% from the field last year and 32% from deep, while this season Freemantle is at 44% from the field and 14% from deep.

Steele believes slowing Jared Bynum will be essential if his team is going to go on the road and knock off the team with the best record in the Big East, “It starts with him, in my opinion. Bynum is playing at a very, very, very high level. Shooting the ball almost 50% from three, he’s play-making, he makes all the big plays down the stretch for them,” Steele said on Monday. “And obviously they’ve got big Nate Watson who is one of the better frontcourt players in the entire country. It kind of starts with those two guys.”

Watson is coming off of a week in which he averaged over 21 points per game, and was named to the Big East Honor Roll. A testament to their depth, PC has seen Watson named to the Honor Roll three times this year, AJ Reeves twice, and Noah Horchler twice, while Al Durham, Justin Minaya, and Jared Bynum have all been named Big East Player of the Week this season.

“I always say with Providence, number one, we’ve got to control the glass. Number two, we have to have a great attack against their zone, which can slow a lot of teams down with their size and length,” Steele shared.

The depth of both Providence and Xavier will be tested on Wednesday. Durham sat out on Sunday’s win over Butler due to a sports hernia injury, while Nate Johnson did not practice on Monday, but Steele is hopeful he can give it a go against the Friars.

Steele has been impressed with the job Ed Cooley has done this season, noting, “David Duke is a tremendous player. You lose him to the NBA, then all of the sudden, they are incredible this year. It speaks volumes to the program he’s built there.”

“He’s done a great job with this group. I mean, phenomenal. They are in a lot of close games. A lot, and it seems like they win dang near every one of them. He’s a great coach, he’s a great person, he’s a great human being.”