After ending a losing skid with a decisive New Year’s Eve victory, Xavier heads to Georgetown aiming to get to .500 in Big East play on Friday in Washington.
Before ending 2024 with a 94-72 win over Seton Hall, Xavier (9-5, 1-2 Big East) had dropped three straight closes games against Top 25 opponents in Cincinnati, UConn and Marquette by a combined 10 points.
“We didn’t win and that’s the name of the game, but to be where we were in each of the three games, it took a level of play that I don’t know if every team can get to,” coach Sean Miller said on Tuesday.
The increased competition also arrived right as Miller lost arguably his best player in Zach Freemantle to a knee injury. Freemantle, who averages 16.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, was lost toward the end of the 68-65 loss at Cincinnati on Dec. 14.
Miller is hopeful that Freemantle will be back before the end of the season but has been relying on the improved leadership of Ryan Conwell (16.6 ppg) and Dayvion McKnight (10.8) in his absence.
“We have 17 conference games in front of us, and there’s a lot of teams that play their best basketball in the months of January and February and, look, we have to be one of them,” Miller said.
“The next task is to go on the road at Georgetown and play a good game.”
Georgetown (11-2, 2-0) has already eclipsed its win total of each of the past three seasons and is seeking a 3-0 conference start for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
“The staff has done an incredible job of bringing in talent,” coach Ed Cooley said on Dec. 28 after the Hoyas’ 83-53 win over Coppin State.
“The fact that we’ve eclipsed last year, we should. That’s growth and development of the organization.”
Malik Mack (lower-body injury) returned to score 15 points and tally 11 assists against Coppin State, but Hoyas leading scorer Jayden Epps (15.9 ppg) missed the contest with the same injury. The school described Epps’ status as day-to-day.
Xavier has won five straight against the Hoyas and is 8-4 all-time at Georgetown.
–Field Level Media
