Xavier returns to action after an exhausting triple-overtime loss when it hosts Seton Hall on Saturday afternoon in Cincinnati.
The Musketeers (17-10, 7-9 Big East) battled No. 11 Providence deep into the night Wednesday. Xavier star Paul Scruggs knocked down a 3-pointer at the second overtime’s buzzer to force a third extra session before the Friars finally wrestled away a 99-92 win.
“We gotta be able to turn the page very quickly,” Xavier coach Travis Steele told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “We’re gonna have Seton Hall come into our house on Saturday. Shoot, we’re not gonna get back until the wee hours of the morning tonight, so we gotta be really smart on what we do over the next couple days.”
Xavier suffered its third straight defeat and its fifth in six games.
At this late stage of the season, both coaches expressed how nothing was more vital than winning the game in front of them.
“There’s no moral victories,” Steele said. “We play to win, but I thought our guys competed, they fought, they left it all out there.”
Likewise, Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard avoided a question about what it would mean if his Pirates (17-9, 8-8) finished the season on a winning run.
“There’s one focus and one focus only, and that’s Saturday,” Willard said. “I know Xavier lost a tough one in triple overtime. … This time of year, you’re not worried about anything else besides your next one.”
Seton Hall earned its second straight win by outlasting Butler 66-60 at home Wednesday. A 20-2 run early in the second half made the difference, allowing the Pirates enough cushion when Butler made a late 13-0 charge.
Seton Hall’s three bench players were responsible for 35 points in the win. Tyrese Samuel scored 15 points, Alexis Yetna had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Jamir Harris added 10 points, including two important 3-pointers in the second half and two late foul shots to help end the game.
“I think it takes grit,” Harris said. “It takes a united group, a group that believes in each other and is willing to fight for each other. And I feel like there’s no team better than us at that.
“We love each other, and on that court we show that.”
–Field Level Media
