At this time last year, Xavier was celebrating its highest NCAA Tournament seed in school history — No. 2 in the East Regional — after a five-loss regular season.
On Sunday night, the Musketeers watched 67 teams’ names show up on the NCAA Tournament board before theirs, waiting and finally celebrating as they learned their season would continue in Orlando, Fla.
“They definitely made it dramatic, being the last ones,” Xavier guard and leading scorer Trevon Bluiett said. “It was just nerve-racking. We were holding our breath.”
Xavier overcame a rough end to the regular season with a strong Big East tournament showing last week and earned a No. 11 NCAA Tournament seed. The Musketeers (21-13, 9-9 Big East) will play No. 6 seed Maryland (24-8, 12-6 Big Ten) at 6:50 p.m. Thursday.
Xavier has now made four straight NCAA Tournaments and 11 of the last 12, with the 2012-13 season the only exception. Last year, with high expectations, Xavier fell in the round of 32 to Wisconsin on a three-point buzzer-beater by Badgers point guard Bronson Koenig.
“It really don’t matter what the number is in front of your team name, just like it didn’t last year when we played Wisconsin, and just like it didn’t for Syracuse when they made the Final Four (last year, as a No. 10 seed),” Xavier coach Chris Mack said. “We just have to be better than Maryland, which is easier said than done, on Thursday.”
Since last year’s shocking Tournament loss, the Musketeers have not had it easy. Only 4 of 16 players from last year’s roster were still in the lineup for last week’s Big East Tournament loss to Creighton. Fifth-year senior Myles Davis, who was suspended from Sept. 1 to Jan. 10, abruptly left the program on Jan. 20, announcing his decision on Twitter. After establishing himself as a leader on last year’s Xavier team, Davis played just 11 minutes and scored two points in three games before leaving the Musketeers.
Nine days later, in a win over St. John’s, sophomore guard Edmond Sumner suffered a season-ending ACL tear. At the time of his injury, Sumner was the team’s second-leading scorer, averaging 15 points per game. Xavier lost six straight games in February and entered last week’s Big East Tournament squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
“We’ve been hit with a lot of adversity. I think this is the most adversity I’ve been through since I’ve been here,” said Bluiett, who also missed two games in February with an ankle injury. “Just to be able to still be in the tournament after everything that’s happened this whole season, give a lot of credit to the guys for staying focused and not distracted with things that were going on or listening to outside people.”
With pressure to perform, the Musketeers beat DePaul 75-64 in the first round of the conference tournament last Wednesday. Xavier then upset No. 18 Butler, 62-57, in a game that likely sealed its NCAA Tournament bid. The teams were tied at 57 with less than a minute left in the game before Bluiett scored the go-ahead basket with 17 seconds remaining.
Against Creighton the next night, Xavier was set up for another close finish, with the teams tied at 72 and 16 seconds left. But this time, Creighton’s Marcus Foster hit a last-second three-pointer to hand Xavier a 75-72 loss.
After going 2-1 in New York, the Musketeers enter Thursday’s game against Maryland with more postseason momentum than the Terrapins. In last week’s Big Ten Tournament, held in Washington, D.C, Maryland squandered what was essentially a home-court advantage by losing its first game 72-64 to Northwestern.
“I don’t usually get on my guys right after a game, but I was upset Friday night and I let them know it,” Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said during Sunday night media availability. “We learned a lot, but I’d rather learn a lot in the Big Ten Tournament than the NCAA Tournament.”
Maryland’s disappointing Big Ten conference showing was more reflective of its performance of late than at the beginning of this season. The Terps started the season 20-2, their best start in school history, but went 3-5 last month with losses to non-NCAA Tournament teams Penn State and Iowa.
Xavier and Maryland will both be playing far from home on Thursday, but road arenas are comfortable territory for the Terrapins. They are 8-2 away from home and 3-0 on neutral courts this season, best in the Big Ten.
The Terrapins are led by junior guard and first team All-Big Ten selection Melo Trimble, who averages 17 points per game. Beyond Trimble, three freshmen — Anthony Cowan, Justin Jackson and Kevin Huerter — play more than 27 minutes per game. Cowan leads the team in steals with 39, and Jackson is the team’s leading rebounder (6.1 per game) and three-point shooter. Mack recruited Cowan and Huerter, Maryland’s second- and fourth-leading scorers, but said he hasn’t watched Maryland play this season.
The Musketeers will lean on Bluiett and J.P. Macura, who are averaging 18.1 and 14.5 points per game. Xavier will likely need to capitalize on its strong offensive rebounding and try to play off of Maryland’s inconsistencies on defense. If Xavier beats Maryland, it will play the winner of No. 3 seed Florida and No. 14 seed Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday.
“I feel really good and confident in our team right now,” Bluiett said. “I think we’re peaking at the right time. This is probably the best basketball we’ve played for awhile.”
The Xavier Musketeers play the Maryland Terrapins in the NCAA Tournament second round at 6:50 p.m. Thursday, March 16.
This article appears in Mar 8-15, 2017.
