It is safe to say the first week of Xavier’s season did not contain a lot of promising signs, but the opportunity came last night to right the ship and if not pick up what would likely end up a Q1 win,
at least show that they can hang with a high major opponent for 40 minutes. If you fell asleep at the final media timeout of the first half, you would probably have been decently pleased with what you saw. Xavier wasn’t winning the game, but they had been presenting Iowa with enough challenges that the Hawkeyes looked uncomfortable and, even without any of their guards making much of an impact in the scoring column, Xavier had gotten enough shot making from Jovan Milicevic (15/2/0) and Filip Borovicanin (12/5/3) to keep their heads above water. In what at times looked like a rerun of the disaster that was the end of the first half against Santa Clara, Xavier once again stumbled into the break and ceded the momentum and essentially any chance of winning the game, this time via an 11-0 run by Iowa to stretch their lead out to 16 before the half.
The second half was always going to be an uphill struggle for Xavier and even a 9-0 run, made possible largely because of a 7 point possession featuring a layup and two free throws by Milicevic and a jumper from Borovicanin, only briefly brought the Hawkeyes back within single digits before their response of 7 straight points over 1:20 took the lead right back to where it had been at halftime. If you are desperate for a positive to find from the final 20 minutes, Malik Messina-Moore (9/0/2) finally showed a willingness to attack and try to snap Xavier out of their frequent offensive lulls, doing so without ever picking up his 4th personal foul despite playing all 20 minutes of the second frame. Apart from his 9 points on 2-4/2-3/3-5 shooting, Xavier put up just 24 on a 9-25/1-13/5-7 shooting line while only grabbing 7 of Iowa’s 13 misses in the half. Suffice it to say, there was very little to indicate that this game was a turning of the corner and will make a more promising showing in the home date with Old Dominion even more important as the team looks ahead to their date with Georgia in Charleston next week.
Takeaways
- Xavier’s interior defense is a problem- The calling card for a team with this roster makeup is going to have to be its defense and through 4 games, the Musketeers are struggling mightily on that end of the floor. They’ve held just one opponent under 1 point per possession and opponents are now shooting 60% from inside the arc. Last night, Iowa only took 11 threes, scored 50 points in the paint, shot 21-26 at the rim, and had just one shot blocked. Xavier is turning opponents over a decent amount, but on possessions when they don’t their opposite numbers are finding it far too easy to get a high percentage look on the interior.
- Jovan Milicevic bounced back– after scoring 7 points and shooting 1-12 from the floor against Le Moyne and Santa Clara, the big Canadian posted a career high with 15 and knocked down a pair of threes early on. having shot 44% from deep last year, he can bring an element to Xavier that makes them harder to match up with if he can consistently be a threat to knock down jumpers and he was a major reason behind Xavier’s strong start last night before picking up 3 fouls in 7 second half minutes to foul out of the game.
- Isaiah Walker is playing himself into the rotation– having played sparingly in the exhibitions and the opener, Walker has gathered more and more minutes as Xavier tries to figure out their guard rotation. He’s probably not going to drop 30 on anyone, but he brings an unmatched work rate, has been Xavier’s best rebounding guard, and is shooting 38% from deep so far. Messina-Moore and Wright have shown flashes of being explosive scorers, which Walker hasn’t ever really been in his college career, but Walker’s ability to make an impact in other aspects of the game has boosted his playing time as the other guards try to get their feet under them.
