Yeah, Xavier probably struggles to finish outside of the cellar of the Big East with Seton Hall and DePaul. But I’d be shocked if this is anything less than a Q2 win by season’s end. That’s the power of winning on the road. Plus, X’s Big East schedule will help them float in the metrics if they can even get a couple of conference wins on flukes.
Anyone want to guess the last time SCU beat a Big East team on the road by double digits? I don’t know the answer but better believe the Athletic Dept is going to find it for the write-up.
I’ll guess that they beat Marquette in like 1971 or something.
I remember them beating Villanova in 2011 when Nasthy and I were just learning the route to Benson. It was right before that whole season derailed. But that was a neutral site tournament, I believe.
Road trips all the way back east have been really rare for SCU - I recall games @HarvardHarvardHarvardHarvard (I t@ND@NDn@@Michiganichigan), @ND, @Michigan State, with the latter two being midwest. I haz@Cincyl@Cincy recall playing @Cincy (and losing).
Two games against Nova are the only Big East games that come mind, but maybe we played DePaul at a point…
EDIT: Looks like, with the win, we are 14-19 against the Big East all time. I would imagine that includes old games again the current members pre-Big East. Most games are in Santa Clara or neutral sites.
Extremely cursory look, but we won the last game against XU in Cincy, but it was in the 60s. We beat Georgetown and DePaul on the road in the late 30s, but no big wins (they didn’t score much). Road games in the eastern time zone, as I suggested, look to be a tiny fraction of all SCU basketball games. We beat St Johns @ MSG in the ‘50s, which is neat.
I take great hope in the fact that it’s the defense that makes this Bronco squad stand out so much. And on offense, they barely needed the three tonight.
It’s only two games. But Santa Clara has the foundational elements for a much less streaky squad than what we are used to. This crew might not put up 100 against Gonzaga (though maybe they can!) but they aren’t playing like a team that will give up a 30-0 streak to SMC either.
I didn’t get a chance to watch tonight, but was pleased to see in the boxscore the focus on getting to the rim, instead of relying on shots from beyond the arc. I know we will see plenty of 3 pt shooting this season, but it’s nice to know the Broncos can deliver a balanced attack.
I suspect they might change their mind if there was a full complement of quality western teams to create a western division. I think the ACC and SEC are on the front end of a trend, with the ultimate outcome being the destruction of the NCAA as we know it (at least for football and hoops).
I know this is not a very good Xavier squad this season, but it’s a solid win on the road at a normally difficult place to win against a Big East team. The Broncos energy last night was tremendous. I loved our physicality and defensive pressure. Graves is a player and scary for the WCC that he’s only a freshman. Love the balance offensively and this team isn’t even at full strength.
There is a very long way to go and let’s hope this team plays hungry, yet stays humble.
Side note: CI mid major top 25 had Broncos at #12, up 5 from #17. The updated poll seems to come out every Monday so it was prior to last night’s game. Go Broncos!
They definitely need to stay hungry. They should absolutely want and expect to go to Palm Springs 6-0 but not take anything as given. Nevada has had SCU’s number even in years (like last year) where the Wolf Pack wasn’t even that good.
Keep the foot on the gas. Even if that ends up being the worst X team in years, going to Cinci and playing like that is still a helluva’n accomplishment.
Heeyyy give the boys their flowers. Xavier is not to the calibur this season but they are still a reputable big east program and we got them on the road. The Broncos have had almost had as much change. Broncos were road dogs so even though Xavier is weaker whats that say about us.
I think we just need to take it game by game. Xavier has a solid coach in Richard Pitino they will figure it out. This is the worst they will be all year. I think we were really prepared for this style because of the scheduling lf mcneese but no way xavier finishes below 100 kenpom. Im looking forward to the equity in this win and watching this victory appreciate!
The two takeaways for the program to elevate was to improve some of the advanced metrics on efficiency. The Broncos have taken higher percentage shots more often leading to open 3’s that they can knock down easily. Also putting consistent pressure on the defense and getting to the cup lead to a higher FTR hopefully we can improve the percentage as well. I am excited to see the balanced offensive attack and tenacious defense. I am equally encouraged that these games look like high floor games it doesn’t feel like we are playing out of our mind to attain the results. Imagine what happens with some confidence and chemistry.
