CBB
(3/24/23) 9:00 PM Eastern.
Spread: Xavier +4.5 / Texas -4.5.
ML: Xavier +155 / Texas -190
Total: Over / Under 148.5.
Xavier’s leading scorer has gone through a bit of a cold spell but we’re banking on him breaking out. His season stats: 44.2% FG, 40.2% 3PT, and 86.8% FT. That’s after going 8-35 from the floor and 2-17 from deep across his last 3 games. He had an especially poor day against Marquette (0-9 FG) 3 games ago, but still managed to score 17 in the round of 64 (5-13 FG, 1-5 3PT, 6-6 FT), and 14 in the round of 32 (3-13 FG, 1-7 3PT, 7-8 FT). He’s a scorer and he’s going to stay aggressive. It’s quite literally just a matter of time before he fills up the stat sheet and if you watch Xavier’s last game you’ll see how close he is. He had multiple shots rim in and out on him. If “almost made” was a stat, he would have gone off. He did settle in, scoring all 14 of his points in the 2nd half. You could see his confidence return towards the end of that game. The confidence that saw him shoot 22-42 from deep in the 6 games leading up to this slump. A slump that started in the Big East Title game (3rd game in 3 days). This is the first time all year that he’s gone 3 straight games without making at least two 3’s, it’s unlikely he goes 4. Sean Miller is also a great coach; he knows he’s going to need his leading scorer if they want to keep dancing. I’d bet he calls Boum’s number early to get him rolling.
