One week into the college basketball season, Xavier ranks 30th in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency, according to KenPom.com.
That surely is a breath of fresh air for Richard Pitino and his program, one year after they ranked 10th in the 11-team Big East in scoring defense (80.6 ppg).
The Musketeers will try to put another strong defensive performance together while tightening other areas when they welcome Detroit Mercy on Tuesday night in Cincinnati.
Xavier (2-0) followed a 97-52 opening-night blowout of Mount St. Mary’s with a 76-53 win over Eastern Michigan on Friday. The Musketeers recovered from a slow start and held the Eagles to 27.6% shooting from the floor while creating 22 turnovers.
“This team is so opposite of last year. Polar opposites,” Pitino said. “We could be a really good defensive team. We’re a better rebounding team than we showed (against Eastern Michigan).”
The Musketeers lost the overall rebounding battle by six to the Eagles and allowed 18 offensive rebounds.
“Give them credit, I thought they were relentless on the glass, but we were getting stops and just not finishing possessions,” Pitino added.
All 10 Xavier players who saw the court scored at least three points, with six players scoring eight or more. Chance Westry (13) led the Musketeers off the bench for the second straight game.
Italian forward Gabriel Pozzato added four steals in 16 minutes. Xavier has averaged 14 steals per game this season, tied for seventh in the nation.
Detroit Mercy (0-1), meanwhile, will try to prove it can do better than its 93-32 season-opening loss at Marquette.
Detroit Mercy reached the Horizon League championship game last spring and returned a number of key contributors, including Tyler Spratt (eight points vs. Marquette), Ayden Carter (seven) and Lance Stone (five). But against a strong Marquette team, the Titans shot just 13 of 59 (22%) from the field and lost 20 turnovers.
“We have enough pieces,” Detroit Mercy coach Mark Montgomery said at Horizon League media day. “We have depth, and I think as the season goes on, the more experience all those players get will make us even better.”