The No. 3 seed Xavier Musketeers (25-9, 17-6 Big East) take on the No. 14 seed Kennesaw State Owls (26-8, 18-3 Atlantic Sun) Friday at Greensboro Coliseum in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Kennesaw State narrowly defeated the Liberty Flames 67-66 at KSU Convocation Center on March 5 in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tourney Championship, their fifth straight win.
Terrell Burden was a top performer with 19 points. Xavier dropped their last game in the Big East Conference Tourney Championship on Saturday at Madison Square Garden, falling to the Marquette Golden Eagles 65-51.
Adam Kunkel recorded 14 points to lead the team in scoring in defeat. With 10 points and eight rebounds, Jerome Hunter also impressed. The Owls have been led this season by Chris Youngblood and Burden, who are averaging 14.7 and 13.5 points per game, respectively. Burden also has dished 4.2 assists per game.
Meanwhile, Brandon Stroud is grabbing 6.5 rebounds per game. Souley Boum (16.5 ppg), Colby Jones (14.8), and Jack Nunge (14.1) have supplied much of the Musketeers’ offense. Nunge also has averaged 7.8 rebounds per game, while Boum has doled out 4.4 assists per game.
The Musketeers are one of the top scoring offenses in the nation, ranking 11th with 81.4 points per game. Kennesaw State is 8-2 in the last 10 games with an average margin of +4.2 (73.1-68.9).
Xavier has a 6-4 record over the last 10, scoring 75.6 points per game on average while allowing 69.4 (+6.2 margin). The Musketeers are averaging 81.4 ppg for the full season while allowing 74.1.
OWLS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Kasen Jennings: 5.4 | 9.5 | -4.1
Points per game:
Demond Robinson: 14.6 | 11.1 | +3.5
Rebounds per game:
Demond Robinson: 7.4 | 5.8 | +1.6
Assists per game:
Spencer Rodgers: 2.8 | 2.1 | +0.7
MUSKETEERS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Desmond Claude: 13.8 | 8.6 | +5.2
Zach Freemantle: 0.0 | 18.1 | -18.1
Points per game:
Zach Freemantle: 0.0 | 10.5 | -10.5
Rebounds per game:
Colby Jones: 7.6 | 5.3 | +2.3
Zach Freemantle: 0.0 | 5.6 | -5.6
Assists per game:
Colby Jones: 2.4 | 4.1 | -1.7
SportsTips’ College Basketball Pick:
Xavier -12.5 (-115)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
