The game of basketball was boiled down to a simple equation on Wednesday night – Providence played defense and made shots; Xavier didn't do much of either.
Instead of the urgency that should normally accompany a team hovering around the NCAA Tournament bubble in late February, Xavier didn't appear up to the challenge from the moment the ball was tossed into the air at Alumni Hall as the Friars handled the Musketeers 83-68.
It's a loss that puts Xavier's back firmly against the wall over the final 10 days of the regular season with the Musketeers now sitting at 12-5 overall and 5-5 in the Big East Conference.
Xavier, which never led all game, let Providence score in pretty much every conceivable way. Providence did make some tough shots, but the Friars also got wide-open looks on the perimeter as well as a glaring number of uncontested dunks.
"It's a trend and it's a pattern we've seen game after game," said Xavier head coach Travis Steele. "Our 3-point percentage defense is abysmal and we're allowing guys to get way too comfortable, guys that can really shoot the ball."
The Friars shot 54% from the field and poured in 11 3-pointers, meaning that Providence outscored the Musketeers (3 of 17) by 24 points from beyond the arc.
David Duke did it again, too. The Providence star, who scored 30 points against Xavier earlier this season, dropped 18 on Wednesday and added nine rebounds and nine assists. Nate Watson, once again, was solid with 15 points and seven boards, but it was Noah Horchler's 20 points and 16 from AJ Reeves that really broke Xavier's back.
Xavier only managed to score 25 points in the first half and when the Musketeers finally started to put the ball through the basket with a little consistency in the second half, the defense laid down and took a nap as the Friars poured in 48 second-half points.
Steele was asked after the game if the problem is that he's still looking for five guys who he can trust to play defense.
"Yeah, we're still looking for sure," said Steele. "When you give up 83 points you're looking, right? We're not nearly good enough on that end and we gotta figure it out. I said to our guys after the St. John's game and the UConn game, we don't have weeks to figure this deal out, we just don't. We're at the end of the season, we got two weeks left. We gotta do it now. We gotta figure it out in days.
"We're looking for that, that's what we're searching for. We're making way too many mistakes within our system and a Providence team made us pay for it tonight."
Xavier was without starter Nate Johnson, who was seen on the television broadcast wearing a walking boot on his left foot.
"This was something he was dealing with last year at Gardner-Webb," said Steele when asked about the severity of the injury. "So, it's obviously with his knee, but we'll kind of see, we'll get with doc when we get back and try to figure it out. Nate wants to play but we're gonna make sure he's safe and healthy first and foremost."
Despite the issues at both ends of the floor, Steele stuck with a small rotation for most of the second half and he elected not to play CJ Wilcher or KyKy Tandy – two of Xavier's better shooters – at all in the second half. Bryan Griffin and Adam Kunkel were the only bench players to contri in the second half.
When he was asked why he decided against going to his bench much in the second half, Steele said, "I'd say defense again. I felt like guys were making mistakes and again, glaring ones we can't do, that we can't have.
"... We're gonna go with the lineups that I think are executing our defensive system as best as they can and they're still not good enough. We still gotta be better, but again, we're just gonna roll with the guys that I think are able to execute it the best that I see in practice every day."
Zach Freemantle posted his fourth straight double-double (24 points, 12 rebounds) and Paul Scruggs kicked in 22 points. Dwon Odom played well with 11 points and five rebounds, but the Musketeers didn't get much else.
Colby Jones struggled, as did Kunkel and Jason Carter.
Xavier's a team that's still searching right now and that's not a good thing with 10 days left in the regular season. The road only gets more difficult, too, with a visit from Creighton on Saturday.
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