The Xavier Musketeers and the Washington Huskies meet Friday in college basketball action from T-Mobile Arena. Xavier is 2-1 on the young season following a loss to Purdue in their last outing. As for Washington, they’re currently 2-1 as well and coming off a seven-point loss at the hands of Nevada on Sunday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Xavier Musketeers
The Musketeers played pretty well in their first two games this year and were able to pull off a pair of wins. Xavier beat Robert Morris 77-63 in their opener thanks to 57.1 percent shooting from the field and 37 rebounds. Game two was a win over Jacksonville 79-56. The Musketeers shot just 39.7 percent in that one and got out-rebounded 48-41 (20-14 offensive).
Xavier took their first loss of the year versus a great Purdue team in their last outing. After a 37-29 deficit at the break, the Musketeers limped to an 83-71 defeat. Desmond Claude led the team on 15 points with six rebounds. Gytis Nemeiksa, Dailyn Swain and Trey Green each scored 10 points with a combined 10 rebounds.
Washington Huskies
Over on the Huskies’ side, they won their first pair as well. Washington drilled Bellarmine 91-57 in the opener by shooting a blistering 62.1 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range. In the Northern Kentucky matchup, the Huskies won 75-67 with 45.5 percent from the field but only 3-of-17 (17.6 percent) from outside.
Washington also hit the wall in their third game, falling 83-76 to Nevada. The Huskies were outscored 41-30 in the first half and couldn’t bridge the gap in the second. Keion Brooks was able to notch a double-double however, posting 19 points and 11 rebounds. Sahvir Wheeler added 14 points with five boards and five assists.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’m going to take a stab on Washington. You could make a good case either way here, though; it’ll be interesting to see how each team responds after coming off their first loss of the year. The Huskies shot well overall in the Nevada defeat, hitting 48.4 percent from the field. Washington went just 7-of-24 (29.2 percent) on 3-pointers however, and hit only nine of their 21 free throws (42.9 percent). They’ll likely have to rely on rebounding here—which was good in their last game (46).
As for Xavier, they shot well against Purdue (44.8 percent) but weren’t great from outside either (7-of-25 for 28 percent) and got outmuscled on the boards 38-32. I like this matchup to be competitive the whole way, with Washington eventually powering out the cover (and maybe the win). Should be a fun one to watch.
