Sweet 16 scouting report: No. 2 seed Arizona Wildcats vs. No. 11 seed Xavier Musketeers
- Updated
Prepare for Arizona's Sweet 16 game against Xavier on Thursday with Bruce Pascoe's in-depth scouting report.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
Matchup: No. 2 seed Arizona (32-4) vs. No. 11 seed Xavier (23-13)
Game: NCAA Tournament, Sweet 16
Location: SAP Center, San Jose, California
Time: 7:09 p.m.
TV: TBS
Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
G Kadeem Allen (6-3 senior)
G Rawle Alkins (6-5 freshman)
F Allonzo Trier (6-5 sophomore)
F Lauri Markkanen (7-0 freshman)
C Dusan Ristic (7-0 junior)
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
G Quentin Goodin (6-4 freshman)
G J.P. Macura (6-5 junior)
F Trevon Bluiett (6-6 junior)
F Malcolm Bernard (6-6 senior)
C Tyrique Jones (6-9 freshman)
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
After losing six straight games into early March, Xavier has since won five of its last six games. The Musketeers were given one of the last NCAA Tournament seeds not requiring a play-in game, then beat Maryland and Florida State last weekend in Orlando, Fla., to reach the Sweet 16. Trevon Bluiett had 29 points on 8-for-14 shooting and made 10 of 14 free throws in Xavier’s 91-66 upset of Florida State in the second round on Saturday.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
The Musketeers and Wildcats have only met once before, and it was in the exact same spot two years ago: The 2015 West Regional semifinal. UA came back to beat Xavier 68-60 after the Musketeers held a 53-49 lead with 6:56 left. T.J. McConnell had 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists to lead the Wildcats while Matt Stainbrook had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Xavier.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
Arizona is 4-1 among teams both have played while Xavier is 3-3.
• Missouri: Arizona won 79-60 on Dec. 10 at Columbia, Mo. Xavier won 83-82 in overtime on Nov. 17 at Orlando, Fla.
• Colorado: Arizona won 82-73 on Jan. 7 at McKale Center and won 92-78 on March 9 in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals at Las Vegas. Xavier lost 68-66 on Dec. 7 at Boulder, Colo.
• Utah: Arizona won 66-56 on Jan. 5 at McKale Center. Xavier won 77-69 on Dec. 10 at Cincinnati.
• Butler: Arizona lost 69-65 on Nov. 25 in the Las Vegas Invitational final in Las Vegas. Xavier lost 83-78 on Jan. 14 at Indianapolis, lost 88-79 on Feb. 26 at Cincinnati, and won 62-57 on March 9 in the Big East Tournament at New York.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
The Musketeers have followed an adversity stricken path this season that the Wildcats can relate to. They first lost Jalen Reynolds early to an NBA Draft that didn't call his name, had to deal with legal troubles and a suspension that kept Myles Davis out for half the season, had Davis quit the team suddenly in January after playing just three games – and then lost standout point guard Edmund Sumner for the season due to a torn ACL in late January. But through it all, Xavier managed to develop an offensive togetherness and multi-faceted defense that helped it avenge two losses to Butler in the Big East Tournament, then upset both Maryland and Florida State in the first two NCAA Tournament rounds last weekend.
The Musketeers play a lot like the 2015 bunch that gave UA trouble in the Sweet 16, except they don't have the kind of dominant post player that Stainbrook was. They get it done with big guards who can score in multiple ways, especially by getting to the line, ranking No. 31 nationally in free throw rate (free throw attempts/field goal attempts) so will test UA’s help-oriented defense. Overall, Xavier is the 16th most offensively efficient team in the country, averaging 116.1 points per 100 possessions. Defensively, they run the same pack-line defense as the Wildcats but mix in zone defense more often, including a 1-3-1.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
The Wildcats held the onetime UA recruiting target to just two points on 1-for-6 shooting as a freshman in 2015. While he will undoubtedly be UA’s top target this time, his recent production suggests he’ll still do some damage.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
Jackson-Cartwright will have to do a lot of negotiating through the Musketeers’ ever-changing defense, reading it quickly and distributing as needed. His steady 3-point shooting will also be sorely needed.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
“They’re playing really well and they’re focusing on getting their best players and their best scorers shots. There’s not a lot of fluff in terms of who gets field goal attempts, so they’re very, very focused and intentional on offense and they’re obviously mixing up their defenses at the other end. That combination has made them extremely effective recently.
“They’ve been through a lot, they’ve gone through it together and they’ve come out on the other end a better Xavier team than when they went into it for sure.
“(Defensively), they’re playing man-to-man, 2-3 zone and 1-3-1 and I’d say they’re doing a great job of mixing those three defenses up.” — UA assistant coach Mark Phelps, who scouted the Musketeers.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
Trying to find a way to describe the drastic transformation Xavier has gone through this season, colorful former UCLA and St. John’s coach Steve Lavin turned to the classic 1969 movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Specifically, it was the who-are-those-guys line both stars said as a posse kept chasing them.
“You know, they’re trying to lose them and they think they’re gone and all of a sudden they hear the hoofsteps,” Lavin said.
Lavin’s point: That Xavier won’t go away, becoming better after losing Myles Davis to a suspension and January departure and even after standout guard Edmund Sumner blew out his knee later that month.
“People are evaluating Xavier based on their freefall when they lost seven of 10 games (including six in a row),” said Lavin, now an analyst for Turner Sports. “But they reinvented themselves and this current group is playing at a very high level in terms of confidence. You look at them and it’s `Who are those guys having career nights?' ”
Lavin said he’s been particularly impressed with guards Trevon Bluiett and J.P. Macura, while noting that the Musketeers’ switching defense can be problematic – especially when they go to a 1-3-1 zone.
“They’re mixing defenses which they’ve done in the past but this group has been paying better defense than they have all season,” Lavin said. “They have a 1-3-1 with (J.P.) Macura out top fulltime and then they have a 1-3-1 that drops into a 2-3 zone. They sometimes trap and they also have a man-to-man. They’ve been very effective at keeping opponents off balance. I would imagine Arizona would see a lot of zone.”
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
Rawle Alkins’ smile has revealed another truth about his work ethic.
He’s not just all about the basketball. He’s also pretty good with a toothbrush.
“I brush two or three times a day,” Alkins said. “When I wake up in the morning. After the first meal. And then nighttime.”
His dental hygiene is not perfect, however.
“I don’t floss,” he said, when asked jokingly last week. “I need to start. You’re right: My dentist told me about that.”
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
Arizona may have earned itself the best possible geographic path through the NCAA Tournament, but that still doesn’t mean it’s easy for the Wildcats.
The tournament requires teams fly in two days before a game, so that means Arizona had only two full days at home after the Pac-12 Tournament before flying to Salt Lake City, and two full days at home on Sunday and Monday before turning around again for San Jose.
Then, of course, there’s practices. And games that matter more than ever before.
“It’s extremely tiring,” Parker Jackson-Cartwright said. “I think guys have gotten sick, even myself. It’s not as easy as people think. We go through a lot behind the scenes that people don’t know. But we’re extremely happy to be here and when the tip goes up we’re gonna be at our best.”
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
The Arizona-Xavier Sweet 16 matchups in 2015 and Thursday aren’t the only things that might have tested the friendship between UA coach Sean Miller and Xavier’s Chris Mack.
There’s also the fact that Mack, who was Miller’s top assistant coach at Xavier, now uses multiple zone defenses — schemes that Miller has never been a fan of except in desperate situations.
But they get through it.
“He doesn’t tease me,” Mack says, smiling. “I think Sean has a belief that each coach knows their team the best and so he’s awfully supportive. If I feel the zone’s our best answer, then he’s not going to critique me. Maybe he is behind closed doors with his staff, but for our team I thought it was the best way to go.”
Particularly this year, as the Musketeers have battled through departures and injuries, the zone has come in handy.
“We’ve had a lot of adversity this year and our numbers were down,” Xavier guard J.P. Macura said. “I think it was easier to play zone in some situations just to save our legs a little bit.”
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
10: Arizona wins in 17 NCAA Sweet 16 games (3-1 under Sean Miller).
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
11: NCAA Tournaments Xavier has been to in the past 12 seasons, something only eight schools have done.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
18: Games this season Xavier’s Trevon Bluiett has scored 20 or more points, including four of the last six.
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- Bruce Pascoe
After losing six straight games into early March, Xavier has since won five of its last six games. The Musketeers were given one of the last NCAA Tournament seeds not requiring a play-in game, then beat Maryland and Florida State last weekend in Orlando, Fla., to reach the Sweet 16. Trevon Bluiett had 29 points on 8-for-14 shooting and made 10 of 14 free throws in Xavier’s 91-66 upset of Florida State in the second round on Saturday.
- Bruce Pascoe
The Musketeers and Wildcats have only met once before, and it was in the exact same spot two years ago: The 2015 West Regional semifinal. UA came back to beat Xavier 68-60 after the Musketeers held a 53-49 lead with 6:56 left. T.J. McConnell had 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists to lead the Wildcats while Matt Stainbrook had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Xavier.
- Bruce Pascoe
Arizona is 4-1 among teams both have played while Xavier is 3-3.
• Missouri: Arizona won 79-60 on Dec. 10 at Columbia, Mo. Xavier won 83-82 in overtime on Nov. 17 at Orlando, Fla.
• Colorado: Arizona won 82-73 on Jan. 7 at McKale Center and won 92-78 on March 9 in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals at Las Vegas. Xavier lost 68-66 on Dec. 7 at Boulder, Colo.
• Utah: Arizona won 66-56 on Jan. 5 at McKale Center. Xavier won 77-69 on Dec. 10 at Cincinnati.
• Butler: Arizona lost 69-65 on Nov. 25 in the Las Vegas Invitational final in Las Vegas. Xavier lost 83-78 on Jan. 14 at Indianapolis, lost 88-79 on Feb. 26 at Cincinnati, and won 62-57 on March 9 in the Big East Tournament at New York.
- Bruce Pascoe
The Musketeers have followed an adversity stricken path this season that the Wildcats can relate to. They first lost Jalen Reynolds early to an NBA Draft that didn't call his name, had to deal with legal troubles and a suspension that kept Myles Davis out for half the season, had Davis quit the team suddenly in January after playing just three games – and then lost standout point guard Edmund Sumner for the season due to a torn ACL in late January. But through it all, Xavier managed to develop an offensive togetherness and multi-faceted defense that helped it avenge two losses to Butler in the Big East Tournament, then upset both Maryland and Florida State in the first two NCAA Tournament rounds last weekend.
The Musketeers play a lot like the 2015 bunch that gave UA trouble in the Sweet 16, except they don't have the kind of dominant post player that Stainbrook was. They get it done with big guards who can score in multiple ways, especially by getting to the line, ranking No. 31 nationally in free throw rate (free throw attempts/field goal attempts) so will test UA’s help-oriented defense. Overall, Xavier is the 16th most offensively efficient team in the country, averaging 116.1 points per 100 possessions. Defensively, they run the same pack-line defense as the Wildcats but mix in zone defense more often, including a 1-3-1.
- Bruce Pascoe
The Wildcats held the onetime UA recruiting target to just two points on 1-for-6 shooting as a freshman in 2015. While he will undoubtedly be UA’s top target this time, his recent production suggests he’ll still do some damage.
- Bruce Pascoe
Jackson-Cartwright will have to do a lot of negotiating through the Musketeers’ ever-changing defense, reading it quickly and distributing as needed. His steady 3-point shooting will also be sorely needed.
- Bruce Pascoe
“They’re playing really well and they’re focusing on getting their best players and their best scorers shots. There’s not a lot of fluff in terms of who gets field goal attempts, so they’re very, very focused and intentional on offense and they’re obviously mixing up their defenses at the other end. That combination has made them extremely effective recently.
“They’ve been through a lot, they’ve gone through it together and they’ve come out on the other end a better Xavier team than when they went into it for sure.
“(Defensively), they’re playing man-to-man, 2-3 zone and 1-3-1 and I’d say they’re doing a great job of mixing those three defenses up.” — UA assistant coach Mark Phelps, who scouted the Musketeers.
- Bruce Pascoe
Trying to find a way to describe the drastic transformation Xavier has gone through this season, colorful former UCLA and St. John’s coach Steve Lavin turned to the classic 1969 movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Specifically, it was the who-are-those-guys line both stars said as a posse kept chasing them.
“You know, they’re trying to lose them and they think they’re gone and all of a sudden they hear the hoofsteps,” Lavin said.
Lavin’s point: That Xavier won’t go away, becoming better after losing Myles Davis to a suspension and January departure and even after standout guard Edmund Sumner blew out his knee later that month.
“People are evaluating Xavier based on their freefall when they lost seven of 10 games (including six in a row),” said Lavin, now an analyst for Turner Sports. “But they reinvented themselves and this current group is playing at a very high level in terms of confidence. You look at them and it’s `Who are those guys having career nights?' ”
Lavin said he’s been particularly impressed with guards Trevon Bluiett and J.P. Macura, while noting that the Musketeers’ switching defense can be problematic – especially when they go to a 1-3-1 zone.
“They’re mixing defenses which they’ve done in the past but this group has been paying better defense than they have all season,” Lavin said. “They have a 1-3-1 with (J.P.) Macura out top fulltime and then they have a 1-3-1 that drops into a 2-3 zone. They sometimes trap and they also have a man-to-man. They’ve been very effective at keeping opponents off balance. I would imagine Arizona would see a lot of zone.”
- Bruce Pascoe
Rawle Alkins’ smile has revealed another truth about his work ethic.
He’s not just all about the basketball. He’s also pretty good with a toothbrush.
“I brush two or three times a day,” Alkins said. “When I wake up in the morning. After the first meal. And then nighttime.”
His dental hygiene is not perfect, however.
“I don’t floss,” he said, when asked jokingly last week. “I need to start. You’re right: My dentist told me about that.”
- Bruce Pascoe
Arizona may have earned itself the best possible geographic path through the NCAA Tournament, but that still doesn’t mean it’s easy for the Wildcats.
The tournament requires teams fly in two days before a game, so that means Arizona had only two full days at home after the Pac-12 Tournament before flying to Salt Lake City, and two full days at home on Sunday and Monday before turning around again for San Jose.
Then, of course, there’s practices. And games that matter more than ever before.
“It’s extremely tiring,” Parker Jackson-Cartwright said. “I think guys have gotten sick, even myself. It’s not as easy as people think. We go through a lot behind the scenes that people don’t know. But we’re extremely happy to be here and when the tip goes up we’re gonna be at our best.”
- Bruce Pascoe
The Arizona-Xavier Sweet 16 matchups in 2015 and Thursday aren’t the only things that might have tested the friendship between UA coach Sean Miller and Xavier’s Chris Mack.
There’s also the fact that Mack, who was Miller’s top assistant coach at Xavier, now uses multiple zone defenses — schemes that Miller has never been a fan of except in desperate situations.
But they get through it.
“He doesn’t tease me,” Mack says, smiling. “I think Sean has a belief that each coach knows their team the best and so he’s awfully supportive. If I feel the zone’s our best answer, then he’s not going to critique me. Maybe he is behind closed doors with his staff, but for our team I thought it was the best way to go.”
Particularly this year, as the Musketeers have battled through departures and injuries, the zone has come in handy.
“We’ve had a lot of adversity this year and our numbers were down,” Xavier guard J.P. Macura said. “I think it was easier to play zone in some situations just to save our legs a little bit.”
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