In the parity-riddled Big East, the Johnnies still have a chance to make third place, after Georgetown was disemboweled by DePaul and after Butler sheathed the Musketeers.
All the Red Storm need to do is win.
But against a surging Xavier, winning is no easy feat. The Musketeers, just over a week ago, took advantage of their size advantage, grabbing half of their misses (!) and earning 33 free throws on their way to an 11 point win.
The Red Storm need the win for the most important purpose: making the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team.