Nova Report
The Cats are back in action as they host 11-2 Xavier at 6:30 eastern. This is the first Conference game for both clubs. The line is Nova-5.5/139.5 as of this post. Xavier has been consistently one of the top tier Big East clubs and this year?s edition is no exception. Najee Marshall, Paul Scruggs and Tyrique Jones are back to do the bulk of the scoring. They feature a lockdown defense both in the paint and beyond the 3. Both their losses were by 5 points or less (Florida and Wake). If history is any indication of a future game, they are in trouble. They have been blown out at Villanova in each of the last five years.
For the Cats, they recently knocked off the then top ranked Kansas Jayhawks by a point. It was by far their best defensive performance and worst offensive performance. Nonetheless, the pollsters have ranked them 10th (too high IMO). It seems like every year, I don?t know how the Cats can beat Xavier and every year, at Nova, Xavier throws in a clunker performance. Thus, no analysis needed. Nova-5 (buy hook) is the play.