2016 NCAA Tournament Preview: No. 2 Xavier vs. No. 15 Weber State

The No. 2 seed in the East Region, Xavier Musketeers, will square off against the No. 15 seed Weber State Wildcats on Friday evening from St. Louis, Mo. Xavier returns to the NCAA tournament for the third season in a row, while Weber State is back for the second time in three seasons.

The 27-5 Musketeers had a brilliant season as they finished second in the Big East during the regular season, two games behind Villanova. Of Xavier’s five losses, two of them came at the hands of Big East tournament champion Seton Hall Pirates, who eliminated the Musketeers in the semifinals of the tournament.

Weber State compiled a 26-8 record during the 2015-16 season and won both the Big Sky regular season and tournament championships. The Wildcats took care of the No. 2 seeded Montana Grizzlies in the Big Sky Championship Game, 62-59.

What To Watch For

Xavier is an offensive-minded ball club as they are 18th in the nation, averaging 81.3 points per game and 27th in assists at 16.4 per. Sophomore guard Trevon Blueitt is the team’s leading scorer at 15.5 points per game, but the Musketeers have six players averaging 9.4 points per contest or more. Head coach Chris Mack‘s offensive system is about spreading the ball around and finding the open shooter.

The Wildcats have two bona fide stars in junior guard Jeremy Senglin and senior forward Joel Bolomboy. Senglin averages 18.2 points per game and shoots 44 percent from three-point range, while Bolomboy patrols the paint and posts 17.2 points and 12.7 rebounds per game. With those two guys in tow, Weber State definitely has a puncher’s chance in this matchup.

Xavier is currently favored by 13 according to Vegas, but I could see this game being closer than that if Senglin and Bolomboy can get going. As we’ve seen so far in this tournament, the smaller schools aren’t afraid of playing the bigger schools and it’s resulted in upsets of two Power Five conference schools.

I like the Musketeers to win this game, but it does concern me that they only have one senior among their top-six scorers. Mack must have this team focused and I believe he will.

Prediction: Xavier 78, Weber State 70