Xavier started to save the season with Saturday’s win over Creighton. There is almost no overstating how much the Musketeers needed to get a marquee win to have any chance of making the NCAA tournament. Even with that accomplished, Xavier isn’t home and hosed. Two games are left in the regular season. Win those two and X has just about punched their ticket. Lose either and the Big East Tournament will suddenly carry even more significance than it usually does.
Xavier won their game by playing defense (finally) and taking 17 more twos than threes. The bench actually produced in the time they were allotted, the coaching staff came up with a gameplan that everyone bought into and executed, and the team had a great deal more energy.