There's not much left to say, other than Xavier's men's basketball team has its final regular-season game on Saturday (7 p.m., Fox Sports 1) at Cintas Center against a Georgetown team that has yet to win a Big East Conference game all season, and it's a game the Musketeers have to win.
A loss would be Xavier's sixth in a row and it would almost certainly leave the Musketeers outside the NCAA Tournament field heading into next week's Big East Conference Tournament at Madison Square Garden.
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A win would offer a small sprinkle of hope for a team that's postseason life is hanging together by a weathered thread.
During its five-game losing streak, four of the five losses have been by double digits.
Xavier's having defensive issues, offensive issues, confidence issues, and anything resembling fun or happiness have been missing in action.
It will be Senior Night for the Musketeers on Saturday and maybe that will provide some motivation, but the motivation to not close the season with a six-game losing streak should be plenty powerful all by itself.
Georgetown will be motivated as well. The Hoyas are in danger of finishing the conference season with a goose egg in the win column.
And to Georgetown's credit, the Hoyas are still fighting. Georgetown went on the road on Wednesday and gave Seton Hall all it could handle on their Senior Night in a 73-68 game.
Nothing about the way Xavier's playing right now is certain. The bad performances have far outweighed the good ones since the start of February. The Musketeers are in a funk. Saturday would be a good time to snap out of it.
Xavier's already locked into the No. 8 seed for the Big East Tournament, meaning the Musketeers will play on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. against the No. 9 seed, which is currently Butler, but it could be DePaul if the Blue Demons beat UConn on Saturday and Butler loses to Villanova. If Butler and DePaul both lose on Saturday, Butler will be the No. 9 seed because the Bulldogs hold the tiebreaker over DePaul.
Xavier vs. Georgetown game info
- Tipoff: 7 p.m. on Saturday at Cintas Center
- TV/Radio: FS1 with play-by-play from Lane Grindle and analysis from Dickie Simpkins. Byron Larkin and Joe Sunderman will have the radio call on WLW-AM (700)
- Series info: Xavier leads the series 16-6
Scouting report
Xavier Musketeers (17-12, 7-11)
Coach: Travis Steele, fourth season (68-49 overall)
Offense: 73.1 ppg
Defense: 67.9 ppg
Projected lineup
Player (Position, Height, Key Stat)
Paul Scruggs (G, 6'5", 12.0 ppg)
Jack Nunge (F, 7'0", 13.0 ppg)
Colby Jones (G, 6'6", 10.8 ppg)
Zach Freemantle (F, 6'9", 10.0 ppg)
Dwon Odom (G, 6'2", 6.1 ppg)
Georgetown Hoyas (6-23, 0-18)
Coach: Patrick Ewing, fifth season (68-82 overall)
Offense: 71.2 ppg
Defense: 77.0 ppg
Projected lineup
Player (Position, Height, Key Stat)
Collin Holloway (F, 6'6", 8.8 ppg)
Dante Harris (G, 6'0", 12.0 ppg)
Donald Carey (G, 6'5", 13.9 ppg)
Aminu Mohammed (G, 6'5", 13.8 ppg)
Timothy Ighoefe (C, 7'0", 5.6 rpg)
Players to watch
Aminu Mohammed
Mohammed was named preseason Big East freshman of the year. He's one of Georgetown's most consistent scoring options and he's the Hoyas' best rebounder. But for Xavier, it's not about stopping one player. The Musketeers have been burned consistently by players you wouldn't expect them to get torched by. It's about playing connected defense.
Paul Scruggs
It's the final home game of Scruggs' college career. He's played in more career games than any player in Xavier basketball history. Scruggs doesn't want to be remembered for going out with a loss. His team needs him to play well.
Key to the game
Heart
There's absolutely no reason why Georgetown should want this game more than Xavier. The Musketeers have to play with heart. In many ways, basketball is more complicated than that, but in this particular case, it's not that complicated. Xavier's fighting for its NCAA Tournament life and the team that takes the floor on Saturday has to reflect that desperation.
Rankings
KenPom.com: Xavier (54); Georgetown (178).
NET: Xavier (39); Georgetown (192).
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