March Madness: Previewing Thursday’s Sweet 16 Matchups
Xavier (11) vs. Arizona (2)
Xavier is the only double-digit seed to make it to the Sweet 16. They get rewarded with a matchup against 2 seed Arizona. The Wildcats weren't playing with their full roster for a lot of the season, but they are locked and loaded at the right time.
Xavier had high hopes entering this season, but the Musketeers have lost two of their best players. It makes it all the more impressive that they have made it to the Sweet 16 in spite of those hurdles.
We have some familiarltty between the coaches in this one. Arizona coach Sean Miller was the head coach at Xavier prior to moving out west, with Chris Mack, Xavier's current head coach, serving as his assistant at Xavier.
Below are three players to keep an eye on from each team.
| Player | Team | PPG | RPG | eFG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allonzo Trier | Arizona | 17.1 | 5.1 | 0.550 |
| Lauri Markkanen | Arizona | 15.8 | 7.2 | 0.589 |
| Rawle Alkins | Arizona | 11.1 | 5.0 | 0.540 |
| Trevon Bluiett | Xavier | 18.5 | 5.7 | 0.539 |
| J.P. Macura | Xavier | 14.3 | 4.3 | 0.500 |
| Rashid Gaston | Xavier | 7.6 | 6.1 | 0.589 |
Here is a quick breakdown of the team stats comparison.
| School | nERD | O Rtg | eFG% | Reb% | TOV% | D Rtg | Opp eFG% | Opp TOV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #2 Arizona | 15.71 | 113.8 | 0.538 | 55.1 | 14.6 | 97.5 | 0.475 | 15.3 |
| #11 Xavier | 11.87 | 109.4 | 0.522 | 54.8 | 15.9 | 103.5 | 0.515 | 15.7 |
