St. Joseph’s vs. Xavier March 14 Free Pick
The 7 vs. 9 matchup in the Atlantic-10 Tournament tips off Thursday evening under the bright lights of the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, NY. Projected to win the A-10 at the start of the year, St. Joseph’s finds itself in a coin flip game against seventh-seeded Xavier. The opening line for this game has made it a pick on the neutral floor.
Free Pick
St. Joseph’s comes into this game with a lot to prove if they want to make a run at making the NCAA
Tournament. The Hawks have been wildly
inconsistent this year, especially away from home – where they dropped their final four contests. In
fact, St. Joseph’s postseason hopes essentially lie in their ability to win the A-10 tournament.
Fortunately, they have the talent to do so with a nice mix of scoring ability from different positions on the
floor and a ton of upperclassmen leaders. Senior Carl Jones is a shifty guard who can get to the bucket and
finish in the open floor. He combines with Langston Galloway, Ronald Roberts and C.J. Aiken to form a quintuplet
of double-digit scorers. With a strong core of experienced talent, the Hawks have the ability to score points in
a tournament atmosphere – something a young Xavier team should struggle to do in their own right.
The Musketeers ended the season fairly strong, despite just a 3-3 record in their last six to show for it. In their last five games, Xavier lost a very close game to VCU, ended Memphis’ 18-game winning streak, lost a close game against a good Massachusetts team, defeated conference champion SLU and then lost a 5-point game to Butler. The Musketeers have shown the ability to be competitive against the top teams of the A-10 but have struggled to grind out the “W” after 40 minutes. Freshman Semaj Christon has made strides throughout the season but still needs scoring help from anyone he can get it from. Travis Taylor and Justin Martin provide some scoring punch on the frontline but they are not consistent and reliable options to run through on the block. Xavier relies very much in part on their ability to create turnovers and then capitalize in the open floor. Dee Davis is still just a Sophomore, as he and Christon team up in the backcourt to create a duo that is filled with potential. That being said, this team lacks the Senior leader that they can lean on in a tough tournament-like atmosphere.
This could be a difficult matchup for the Musketeers against an older and more talented St. Joseph’s team that has something to prove. St. Joseph’s looks to come out and make a statement or their season will end prematurely – it is as simple as that. Expect the better, older and hungrier team to come out in this game and move on to meet Virginia Commonwealth in the next round of the A-10 tournament. Take the Hawks to move on.
Free Pick: St. Joseph’s PK