INDIANAPOLIS ‒ With Connecticut's win over Marquette earlier this week, Xavier's men's basketball team stands alone in first place in the Big East Conference with a half-game lead on the Golden Eagles.
The Musketeers have an opportunity on Friday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse to consolidate that first-place standing with a win over Butler (12-13, 4-10).
It's a rivalry game. It's also the type of game that separates a Big East contender from a pretender. Xavier's aspirations of hanging another Big East banner hinge entirely on beating teams in the bottom half of the league.
Intensity, toughness and execution should be there from the opening tip.
"One thing that Butler's going to do a great job of is they control the tempo of the game," Xavier head coach Sean Miller told The Enquirer on Thursday. "Very systematic in their approach. They run a lot of very good half-court sets trying to get their best players the ball, whether it be in the low post or off of a screen.
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"From a defensive perspective, they don't foul. Similar to Creighton. They're not going to reward you, they're not going to get you in the bonus. So you have to make shots and you have to take care of the ball."
The styles are very different. Butler wants to slow the game and be more methodical in its approach. Xavier wants to play with pace and get into its offense in a hurry.
"You can't let the fact that they aren't going to cooperate and they're going to play to their tempo to ruin what we do," Miller said. "That's what's great about basketball. Every game represents kind of a new subset of challenges. For us being patient, taking good care of the ball, and defensively, the last 10 seconds (of the shot clock), being able to finish the possession and not crack and then get the defensive rebound because they're going to test us in that area and we know that."
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Butler's the only conference opponent that No. 13 Xavier has yet to play this season and it's a game that features two head coaches that know each other well.
Butler coach Thad Matta previously coached at Xavier (2001-04) and took the Musketeers to the program's first-ever Elite Eight.
Miller was one of Matta's assistants at Xavier. Miller eventually took over at Xavier after Matta left for Ohio State.
Friday night will be the first meeting between Miller and Matta as head coaches since the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament when Miller's Arizona Wildcats defeated Matta and the Ohio State Buckeyes 73-58.
The Game
- Tipoff: 7 p.m. on Friday at Hinkle Fieldhouse
- TV/Radio: FS1 with play-by-play from Jeff Levering and analysis from Stephen Bardo. Byron Larkin and Joe Sunderman will have the radio call on WLW-AM (700).
- Series info:Xavier leads the series 45-25.
Scouting report
Xavier Musketeers (19-5, 11-2 Big East)
Coach: Sean Miller, 18th season (441-161 overall)
Offense: 83.8ppg
Defense:76.0ppg
Projected lineup
Player (Position,Height, Key Stat)
Adam Kunkel (G, 6'4", 10.0ppg)
Jerome Hunter (F, 6'8", 6.4ppg)
Colby Jones (G, 6'6", 15.0 ppg)
Souley Boum (G,6'3", 16.3ppg)
Jack Nunge(F, 7'0", 14.8ppg)
Butler Bulldogs (12-13, 4-10 Big East)
Coach:Thad Matta, 18th season(451-167 overall)
Offense: 66.5ppg
Defense:67.7 ppgProjected lineup
Player (Position,Height, Key Stat)
Jayden Taylor (G, 6'4", 12.2 ppg)
Manny Bates (C, 6'11", 11.6ppg)
Simas Lukosius (G, 6'7", 11.4 ppg)
Eric Hunter Jr. (G, 6'4", 8.9ppg)
Ali Ali (F, 6'8", 5.5 ppg)
Players to watch
Simas Lukosius
Lukosius gave Xavier fits in the first round of the Big East Tournament last March with 27 points and four 3-pointers. He's the Bulldogs' best perimeter shooter and for a team that doesn't shoot it great, Xavier can't allow Butler's best shooter to get hot from beyond the arc.
Souley Boum
It's unclear if Butler point guard Chuck Harris will be able to play following a concussion that's sidelined him the last two games. If Harris plays, a battle at the point guard position with Boum will be worth the price of admission. If Harris can't play, Boum should have a mismatch against whoever Butler throws at him.
Key to the game
Turn up the defense
Butler's offensive metrics have the Bulldogs 11th out of 11 teams in the Big East. Butler struggles to score. This is a great opportunity for Xavier to show up defensively and gain more confidence at that end of the floor.
The offense has consistently been there for the Musketeers. On Friday, they have a chance to pair that offense with a good defensive showing.
Rankings
KenPom: Xavier (23), Butler (112)
NET: Xavier (25), Butler (113)
