What we learned from Xavier Musketeers win over Butler Bulldogs

Posted by author March 6, 2025 Basketball

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INDIANPOLIS, Ind. − Last weekend, Xavier head coach Sean Miller applauded how his even-keeled team never got too high when things went well or too low when the odds were stacked against them.

The latest example came Wednesday night, when Xavier finished its regular-season road slate with a 91-78 victory over Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

With all the buildup to Saturday’s win over Creighton, and Butler playing its final game of the season at its historic arena with little to lose, Xavier did what NCAA Tournament bubble teams need to do in the final week of the regular season.

“What we’ve done a good job of is learning from each game, leaving it, being prepared, working together, being focused on the next game and the things we can control,” Miller said. “That continues for us.”

Xavier (20-10, 12-7 Big East) now has won six straight, including a pair of important Quad 2 victories over the last five days, to inch closer toward an at-large bid.

“Xavier’s playing as well as anyone I’ve seen in the country right now,” Butler head coach Thad Matta said.

Thanks to Georgetown’s upset of Villanova Tuesday night, Xavier clinches a first-round bye in next week’s Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden.

Observations from Xavier Musketeers’ win over Butler Bulldogs

Xavier holds off Butler behind Ryan Conwell’s big homecoming

Indianapolis native Ryan Conwell, a standout at Indiana State last season, helped lead a Xavier offense that shot 52.3% from the field Wednesday night to keep the Musketeers’ bubble from popping.

Just over eight miles from where he played high school basketball at Pike, Conwell finished with 21 points, going 5-of-8 from three-point range. Conwell is now 13-of-20 from the perimeter over the last three games. Outside of Conwell, Xavier was just 2-of-11 from downtown.

“To have an opportunity to play in my home city and have so many people come out to support me is a big blessing. I’m happy that we got the win,” Conwell said.

Zach Freemantle played like a veteran forward hungry to taste March Madness before his college days are over. Freemantle finished with a team-high 24 points on 12-of-17 shooting to go with eight rebounds. Freemantle had the hot hand on a night where Xavier’s gameplan focused on attacking the rim. Xavier outscored Butler in the paint, 46-24.

“We talked about that all week. No offense to Butler, but they are 11th in the Big East out of 11 teams in terms of protecting the rim and shot blocks,” Freemantle said. “It was a big gameplan to go inside.”

Dayvion McKnight was also in double figures with 13, going 6-for-6 at the line.

Xavier grabs early momentum in 2nd half

Xavier’s five-game streak of having a double-digit halftime lead came to an end, but the Musketeers wasted no time stretching its advantage early in the second half.

Xavier had its best stretch of the night immediately out of the locker room. After Butler’s hot start from the perimeter, Xavier was chasing the Bulldogs off the three-point line and turning defense into offense.

A pair of breakaway buckets, including an emphatic slam from Dailyn Swain gave Xavier its largest lead of the night at 60-44 with 16:03 remaining in regulation.

Swain finished with a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double to go with three steals.

Xavier won the rebounding battle 32-28 and did not allow a second-chance point. Xavier also committed just five turnovers and turned its 12 takeaways into 22 points.

Butler comes out on fire from three-point range

Butler, a top 50 KenPom offense in overall efficiency and 3-point shooting, showcased its perimeter prowess to climb out of an early hole Wednesday.

Butler shot 15-of-29 from the field in the opening stanza and overcame five turnovers by punishing Xavier from downtown. Butler shot 8-of-13 from three-point range in the first half against a Xavier defense that had climbed to 25th in the nation in first-half scoring (30.6 points per game).

The Bulldogs hot start from beyond the arc fizzled out as they went just 4-of-15 in the second half.

Jahmyl Telfort led Butler with 20 while point guard Finley Bizjack added 19 and Pierre Brooks poured in 15. Patrick McCaffery knocked down a trio of triples in the first half and finished with 11.

“We were not perfect (defensively),” Miller said. “We had some errors on our end. I do think Butler is a very difficult team to defend, especially here at Hinkle (Fieldhouse). We were better in the second half.”

Bench production helped Xavier build early lead over Butler

Trailing, 16-14, at the game’s opening media timeout, Xavier responded with a 14-2 run.

It was fueled by the bench as Jerome Hunter notched back-to-back buckets in a road game for the first time since the win over DePaul in Chicago Jan. 11. Backup center John Hugley had a personal 5-0 run with a hook shot in the lane and a 3-pointer to put the Musketeers ahead, 28-18.

Hunter and Hugley combined for 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

“Tonight, Jerome (Hunter) and John (Hugley) were very good,” Miller said.

Xavier returns to Cintas Center Saturday for regular season finale

Xavier will return to Cintas Center Saturday in a must-win game on Senior Day against Providence.

“We’re in the mix,” Miller said of Xavier’s NCAA Tournament hopes. “What we do have in front of us is Providence at home. It’s up to us to make that 7 (wins in a row) and keep moving on.”

Xavier beat Providence, 91-82, in Rhode Island Feb. 12.