Xavier strives to stay confident after lopsided loss, faces St. John's

Field Level Media|published: Tue 30th January, 16:06 2024

Jan 28, 2024; Hartford, Connecticut, USA; Xavier Musketeers guard Dayvion McKnight (20) and teammates head to the sideline as they take on the UConn Huskies in the first half at XL Center. credits: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Xavier will try to rebound from its worst beating in 51 years when it hosts St. John's in a Big East matchup Wednesday night in Cincinnati.

Xavier (10-10, 4-5 Big East) was humiliated Sunday by No. 1 UConn, 99-56, a 43-point loss that was the school's worst since losing by 43 to Notre Dame on Jan. 12, 1973.

Xavier has played one of the toughest schedules in the country, having already dropped games to UConn (twice), at Purdue and home to Houston, all of whom have been ranked No. 1 at some point during the season.

"At this point, I think we've played America's No. 1 schedule. There's a lot to it," Xavier coach Sean Miller said. "We've been at this for a long time. We just have to make sure from a confidence perspective that we can keep it, hold on to it. As long as we do that, we'll bounce back."

Dayvion McKnight scored 18 points to lead Xavier against UConn. Quincy Olivari, the team's leader at 17.8 points per game, chipped in 14 on 5-of-14 shooting.

The Musketeers are taking on the Red Storm (13-7, 5-4), a team that has had a full week to savor a 20-point win over Villanova at Madison Square Garden that snapped a three-game skid.

St. John's cruised past Xavier 81-66 on Dec. 20 at home. The Red Storm scored 14 points off 18 Xavier turnovers in the Big East opener for both teams.

Joel Soriano led the Red Storm with 18 points, 14 rebounds, six blocks and five assists in the wire-to-wire win. Nahiem Alleyne added 15 points as five players scored in double figures for St. John's.

Soriano leads St. John's in scoring (16.4 ppg) and rebounds (9.7 rpg) and is key to the Red Storm's hopes of making a late-season charge for the NCAA Tournament.

"The big fella came to play," St. John's coach Rick Pitino said of Soriano's 21-point effort against Villanova. "He knew how important this game was for us. And he was he was magnificent. Really happy for him. Happy the way he played and happy the way the whole team played because we had to get this win. We lost a couple of really, really tough games at the buzzer."

—Field Level Media

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