The Crosstown Shootout was played in 2020, but like everything else last year, it wasn’t the same. Without the crazy crowd the Shootout brings, the rivalry did not feel as intense. Luckily for everyone in Cincinnati, it will be back at Cintas on Saturday, which is sure to be rocking. I was in the building for the Ohio State game earlier this season, and it was the loudest I had heard the place get in a while, so I would expect the energy to be crazy on Saturday.
Xavier has looked really good, but that was expected after all the returning talent they were bringing back. UC being good so far is the surprise. New coach Wes Miller has combined the returning UC players and his transfers into a team that took down Illinois and played #12 Arkansas to the wire. But then UC turned around and lost to Monmouth at home and only beat Miami of Ohio by one, which makes you scratch your head.
Xavier has gotten snubbed from the AP poll the last two weeks. They only have one loss to an undefeated #17 Iowa State team (that would be ranked higher if preseason bias did not impact the rankings). Xavier also has three Quad 1 wins, and they are one of only two teams who can say that. The other one is Purdue, who is the best team in the country.
The Game:
Average points per game:
UC: 70.6
XU: 75
Xavier’s leading scorer is Nate Johnson averaging 14.6 ppg and UC’s is David DeJulius with 13 ppg.
Zach Freemantle has returned from his ankle injury and looked back to his old self against Ball State. Fremantle is such a problem because of his presence in the paint on both sides of the court.
Xavier is such a threat because when everyone’s playing right, they have a deep bench. With Freemantle healthy they have three bigs: Nunge, Freemantle, and Miles. Odom and Jones take turns playing point guard, and Kunkel and Johnson can shoot the heck out of the ball. Plus Paul Scruggs is a fifth year senior with lots of experience.
UC only has two players averaging over ten points a game, with the rest of their points coming from a wide range of players.
I would expect this to be a high scoring game. Both teams have already played high stake games and know how much this game means. I think there will be some sloppy turnovers at the very beginning because of the circumstances, but it should turn into a good back and forth.
My pick: Xavier builds a decent lead in the second half but UC makes some shots at the end so X only wins by 8 or 9 but really it’s not that close.
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