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Preview: Bowling Green at Xavier
Xavier looks to snap a three-game losing streak when it hosts Bowling Green on Saturday. The Musketeers blew a 15-point lead in the overtime loss to Iowa in their first outing at the Battle 4 Atlantis and never recovered, dropping games to Tennessee and Southern California. Xavier finished the tournament without a win and coach Chris Mack admitted his squad must improve, saying: “We have to become a much better team, a team that values the ball and rebounds better than we did.”
Bowling Green has won two of its last three contests and is coming off a 74-62 victory over Western Kentucky on Monday. Spencer Parker led the charge with a career-high 20 points and the Falcons blocked 10 shots to bounce back from a loss to Oral Roberts in the championship game of the Cancun Classic in comfortable fashion. Bowling Green has not recorded a road win this season and hopes to end a three-game losing against Xavier.
TV: 2 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1
ABOUT BOWLING GREEN (3-4): Parker leads the team in scoring (14.4 per game) and has finished in double figures in every game this season. Richaun Holmes recorded 18 points, seven rebounds and five blocks against Western Kentucky. Cam Black was named to the Mayan Division Championship All-Tournament Team after recording two straight double-doubles.
ABOUT XAVIER (5-3): Dee Davis had a tournament to forget, going a combined 1-for-15 from the floor in the three losses in the Bahamas. Freshman Myles Davis continues to impress, scoring a career-high 16 points in the setback to USC. The Musketeers have struggled mightily from the free throw line, making just 58.5 percent of their attempts and finished the Battle 4 Atlantis 32-of-58 from the stripe.
TIP-INS
1. Bowling Green is 6-5 all-time against Xavier.
2. The Musketeers have scored 75 points or more five times this season.
3. Black has 105 career blocks and is three away from climbing into fourth spot on the school’s all-time list.
PREDICTION: Xavier 82, Bowling Green 69
