With everything Xavier still has to play for this season, it doesn't make a lot of sense why the Musketeers weren't ready to play DePaul on Saturday afternoon at Cintas Center.
The incomplete performances that have become all too common caught up with the Musketeers on Saturday in a 69-65 loss against a DePaul team that was playing with seven scholarship players and had only won one game in the Big East Conference entering Saturday.
"You can't win in this league playing 20 minutes of good offense," said Xavier head coach Travis Steele. "You just can't do it. And I keep on telling our guys that, it's like rinse, repeat, it's the same thing. We have to figure it out, our guard play has got to be better to start the game, getting us in offense, getting us shots that we want.
More:What we learned from No. 21 Xavier's win over Butler
"I think we had us down for eight bad shots in the first half, which is way too many. We had nine total against Butler."
Those bad shots and some shot-making from DePaul helped the Blue Demons lead by as many as 13 points in the first half and take a 34-27 lead at the break.
Xavier looked like it had figured it out with a 14-2 run to start the second half that gave the Musketeers a 41-36 lead, only to let DePaul storm right back with a 13-0 run.
From there, down 49-41, Xavier clawed back again and cut the deficit to 55-52 with a little more than seven minutes to play.
Then Jalen Terry drilled a 3-pointer for DePaul.
Xavier either couldn't get stops when it mattered or couldn't convert in some key areas down the stretch.
"I thought second half we got it rolling, just a couple timely plays, whether it was a big turnover that led to a layup or didn't get matched up quick enough, give up a wide-open 3 in critical moments, which stuff like that cannot happen in this league. If you do that you're just asking to lose," said Steele.
Again, Xavier closed the gap. Paul Scruggs hit one of his four 3-pointers to cut DePaul's lead to 59-57 with 5:59 left and Courvoisier McCauley responded immediately with a wide-open 3-pointer for the Blue Demons.
After a 3-point play from Nick Ongenda, one that was made possible because of an offensive rebound, DePaul was up 65-57 with 3:09 left.
Scruggs drilled another 3-pointer, then following a stop, Scruggs got to the rim and finished to make it 65-62.
For as clutch as Scruggs was late in the game, he missed some key free throws, two front-end one-and-ones when the Blue Demons had a 62-57 lead.
After a 1-for-2 trip to the line for Scruggs made it 65-63 DePaul, the Blue Demons proceeded to go 4-for-4 from the foul line in the final 46 seconds to keep the game out of reach.
Scruggs led Xavier with 21 points, but five turnovers and missed free throws were costly.
Zach Freemantle had a rough shooting night, 5-of-15 from the field for 10 points. Jack Nunge had 12 points but only scored two points in the second half. Colby Jones scored 11 points and was a big reason why the Musketeers got back in the game in the second half.
The Blue Demons shot 62% from inside the arc. McCauley led DePaul with 21 points and four 3-pointers. Terry added 13 points.
Xavier falls to 16-6 and 6-5 in the Big East with a couple of games on the way next week at Seton Hall and home against UConn.
"I want them to be mad and pissed off," said Steele. "We hate to lose. I don't care if it's to DePaul, I don't care if it's to Villanova, I don't care if it's to Providence, I really don't care who it's against.
"It's about next-game mentality, but we gotta learn from our mistakes. ... You have to grow, you have to get better. And if you're not doing that, other teams will get better and they're gonna pass you by."
Source link
