While victories count the same whether you prevail by one point or 50 points, Xavier coach Travis Steele found that the Musketeers’ latest win left him searching for satisfaction.
“I hate it when you win and you feel like you didn’t win,” Steele said Wednesday after No. 21 Xavier edged visiting Butler 68-66. “I told the group in the locker room that every game is hard in this league, and you should celebrate every win, but we’ve got to put 40 minutes together. I thought we put together a pretty good 35 minutes.”
Xavier (16-5, 6-4 Big East) will aim for that elusive complete game when it hosts struggling DePaul on Saturday in Cincinnati. The Blue Demons (10-10, 1-9) have lost nine of 10, while the Musketeers have won four of six, including 68-67 over DePaul in Chicago on Jan. 19.
Zach Freemantle sparked the Musketeers with 23 points against Butler on Wednesday.
On a night in which Xavier hit a season-low three 3-pointers on 17 attempts, Freemantle was 2-for-5 from deep and 9-for-13 from the field. He has finished in double figures in three straight games and said “I don’t feel different” after missing time in the early season while recovering from foot surgery.
“He’s gaining confidence and become the player we’ve all seen,” Steele said.
Paul Scruggs was Xavier’s second-leading scorer Wednesday, contributing nine points and five assists.
DePaul remains shaky offensively without leading scorer Javon Freeman-Liberty, who has missed the past four games — all Blue Demons losses — with a groin injury.
Since stunning then-No. 20 Seton Hall 96-92 on their home floor on Jan. 13, with Freeman-Liberty scoring 12 points before exiting early in the second half, the Blue Demons have averaged a meager 51.8 points during their current losing streak.
Although the Blue Demons committed just 10 turnovers in Saturday’s 57-50 loss to then-No. 20 Connecticut, coach Tony Stubblefield stressed that DePaul could improve in looking to make the extra pass.
“We’ve got to get the ball moving,” he said. “We’re taking too many tough, challenging shots at certain times, shots off the dribble, and we’ve got to move the ball and continue to stay in our offense and not break down off of that, and get the best shot that we can get from our offense.”
Javan Johnson (18 points) and Brandon Johnson (14) sparked DePaul against UConn. An Iowa State graduate transfer playing his 10th game with DePaul, Javan Johnson finished 6 of 10 from the field as the Blue Demons struggled to 28.8 percent shooting (15-for-52) overall.
“Javan is really coming into his own,” Stubblefield said. “He’s only been with us for about a month, a little over a month, so now he’s getting acclimated from what we want from an offensive standpoint and defensive standpoint, and he’s getting more comfortable in what we’re asking him to do. He’s only going to continue to get better.”
Xavier rallied from a 10-point, second-half deficit at DePaul last month. The Blue Demons stayed afloat behind a 37-35 advantage on the glass that included 16 offensive rebounds.
Jack Nunge scored 15 of his 23 points after halftime for the Musketeers. DePaul’s David Jones led all scorers with 26 points.
–Field Level Media