Arizona basketball: Lavin says Xavier has successfully 'reinvented' itself

SAN JOSE – Received a 15-minute window to speak with former UCLA and St. John’s coach Steve Lavin about the UA-Xavier matchup this morning, and I knew that would be a challenge.

Not only does Lavin know the Pac-12 and Big East probably as well as anybody, having coached in both leagues, but the Turner Sports analyst always has plenty of descriptive things to say.

He stumbled for words only once when he likened Xavier to the posse chasing Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, where Paul Newman says “Who are those guys?”

“You know, they’re trying to lose them and they think they’re gone and all of a sudden they hear the hoofsteps,” Lavin said. “You might need to look it up.”

(A video clip of that line is attached).

The point being that Xavier won’t go away. The point also being that Xavier today, maybe even more so than Arizona, is not the same team it was a month or two ago. Among other issues, the Musketeers lost point guard Myles Davis to a suspension for half the season and then, after just three games, his decision to quit in January, while standout guard Edmund Sumner blew out his knee later that month.

“People are evaluating Xavier based on their freefall when they lost seven of 10 games (including six in a row),” Lavin said. “But they reinvented themselves and this current group is playing at a very high level in terms of confidence. You look at them and it’s `Who are those guys having career nights?' ”

Lavin said he’s been particularly impressed with guards Trevon Bluiett and J.P. Macura, while noting that the Musketeers’ switching defense can be problematic – especially when they go to a 1-3-1 zone.

“They’re mixing defenses which they’ve done in the past but this group has been paying better defense than they have all season,” Lavin said. “They have a fulltime 1-3-1 with Macura and then they have a 1-3-1 that drops into a 2-3 zone. They sometimes trap and they also have a man-to-man. They’ve been very effective at keeping opponents off balance. I would imagine Arizona would see a lot of zone.”

Lavin said Arizona can beat the Musketeers’ defense by getting out in transition before that defense sets up and, in the 1-3-1, by trying to attack the baseline or get good shooting in the corner.

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