:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72107742/usa_today_20270641.0.jpg)
The No. 3 seed Xavier Musketeers picked up wins over No. 14 Kennesaw State and No. 11 Pittsburgh Panthers to get to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. They will get a Sweet 16 matchup with the No. 2 seed Texas Longhorns on Friday night to get another step closer to a Final Four appearance.
Xavier is a 4.5-point underdog on DraftKings Sportsbook with the over/under set at 149.
Xavier roster breakdown
Best player: G Souley Boum
This honor could go to three players on the Xavier roster, it could’ve been a four-player debate until Zach Freemantle’s season-ending injury in late January. Let’s go with Souley Boum as the team’s leading scorer and a First Team All-Big East selection. He’s putting up 16.5 points per game, but he’ll need a much better shooting performance than we’ve seen from him recently. Boum is shooting just 22.9% from the floor over the last three contests, and that includes 11.8% from beyond the arc.
Unsung hero: G Adam Kunkel
The Musketeers guard doesn’t get a ton of attention compared to the team’s top three leading scorers, but Adam Kunkel is still putting up 10.6 points per game with 3.1 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals. Kunkel's specialty comes in 3-point shooting where he’s hitting at 40.9% on the season and has been especially hot lately. He connected on 52.6% from long range over the last three contests, and the Musketeers may need that to pick up the upset win on Friday night.
Xavier roster
| Player | # | Class | Pos | Height | Weight | Hometown | High School | RSCI Top 100 | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | # | Class | Pos | Height | Weight | Hometown | High School | RSCI Top 100 | Summary |
| Souley Boum | 0 | SR | G | 6-3 | 163 | Oakland, CA | Oakland Technical High School | 16.5 Pts, 4.4 Reb, 4.3 Ast | |
| Colby Jones | 3 | JR | G | 6-5 | 195 | Birmingham, AL | Mountain Brook HS | 15.0 Pts, 5.7 Reb, 4.3 Ast | |
| Jack Nunge | 24 | SR | F | 6-11 | 245 | Newburgh, IN | Castle High School | 14.1 Pts, 7.7 Reb, 2.1 Ast | |
| Adam Kunkel | 5 | SR | G | 6-4 | 176 | Hebron, KY | Cooper HS | 10.6 Pts, 2.8 Reb, 3.1 Ast | |
| Zach Freemantle | 32 | SR | F | 6-9 | 225 | Teaneck, NJ | Bergen Catholic HS | 15.2 Pts, 8.1 Reb, 2.9 Ast | |
| Jerome Hunter | 2 | SR | F | 6-7 | 215 | Pickerington, OH | Pickerington North HS | 57 (2018) | 7.9 Pts, 4.4 Reb, 1.3 Ast |
| Desmond Claude | 1 | FR | G | 6-5 | 90 (2022) | 4.8 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 1.8 Ast | |||
| Cesare Edwards | 4 | SO | F | 6-9 | 225 | Hartsville, SC | Hartsville (SC) | 2.2 Pts, 1.8 Reb, 0.2 Ast | |
| Kyky Tandy | 15 | SR | G | 6-2 | 190 | Hopkinsville, KY | University Heights Academy | 83 (2019) | 2.2 Pts, 0.8 Reb, 0.9 Ast |
| Kam Craft | 12 | FR | G | 6-6 | 60 (2022) | 2.8 Pts, 1.6 Reb, 0.3 Ast | |||
| Dieonte Miles | 22 | JR | F | 6-10 | 220 | Walton, KY | Walton-Verona HS | 1.1 Pts, 1.3 Reb, 0.2 Ast | |
| Elijah Tucker | 34 | SO | F | 6-7 | 205 | Canton, GA | Cherokee HS | 1.0 Pts, 0.7 Reb, 0.3 Ast | |
| Bradley Colbert | 45 | SO | G | 6-2 | 0.0 Pts, 0.0 Reb, 0.0 Ast | ||||
| Bob Nunge | 35 | SO | G | 6-6 | 0.0 Pts, 0.3 Reb, 0.0 Ast | ||||
| Ian Sabourin | 31 | FR | G | 6-4 | 0.0 Pts, 0.0 Reb, 0.0 Ast | ||||
| Michael Wolf | 25 | FR | G | 6-0 |