Big East tournament seeds and NCAA Tournament positioning are on the line when Creighton visits Xavier in a pivotal Big East matchup Saturday in Cincinnati.
Creighton (20-8, 13-4) wants to stay one game ahead of third-place Marquette in the conference with one week remaining. As for catching first-place St. John’s, the Bluejays would have to win their final three games and the Red Storm would need to lose their final two to tie for the regular-season title.
The Bluejays are coming off a 75-65 home win over last-place DePaul on Wednesday in Omaha that underwhelmed their head coach.
“Thirteen turnovers, unacceptable. Fifty percent from the field, basically, in the second half by DePaul is not acceptable,” Greg McDermott said. “We’re going to have to be better. We’re going to go into a hornet’s nest on Saturday and if we think this is good enough, we’re kidding ourselves.”
Creighton continues to be led by fifth-year star Ryan Kalkbrenner (18.9 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 2.7 bpg) while point guard Steven Ashworth averages 17.0 points and 6.9 assists.
Xavier (18-10, 10-7) has won a season-best four straight in Big East play and stands 13-2 at home. Not only are the Musketeers trying to remain in the top five of the Big East standings to ensure a conference tournament first-round bye, they are also trying to improve their resume for an NCAA at-large bid.
Xavier, which entered the weekend ranked 52nd according to the NCAA’s NET rankings, survived a road test last Sunday at Seton Hall. A 21-point second-half lead dwindled to three late before Xavier held on for a 73-66 win.
“At this time of year, there’s a lot to be said for just being able to find a way to leave with a road victory,” Xavier head coach Sean Miller said. “They’re not easy to get at any point in the year, but especially late when teams have different pressure on them.”
Xavier is led by Zach Freemantle (16.6 ppg, 7.1 rpg), who had just two points at the half but finished with 11 points and seven rebounds in the win. He has scored in double figures in all 25 of his games this season. Sophomore Dailyn Swain has emerged for the Musketeers in the last 10 games, averaging 12.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists.
Creighton has beaten Xavier in three straight meetings, including an 86-77 win Jan. 29 in Omaha.
–Field Level Media
