Xavier basketball notebook: Musketeers have little margin of error in Big East play

At halftime on Tuesday, Xavier men's basketball was flirting with an upset of No. 17 Creighton at CHI Health Center in Omaha.

The Musketeers were playing physical defense, limiting Creighton's high-powered offense to just 3-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc and permitting just one offensive rebound to take a 39-38 lead into the locker room.

In the second half, Creighton flipped the script. The Bluejays grabbed seven offensive rebounds, which turned into a pair of backbreaking, momentum-grabbing 3-pointers en route to an 85-78 win over the underdog Musketeers.

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"That flurry really changed the game," Xavier head coach Sean Miller said. "We've always had those pockets in games where we give up second shots."

Allowing second-chance opportunities has hampered Xavier at different times this season. Though the Musketeers played well for the majority of Tuesday night's loss, just the slightest lapse can be costly in the Big East. It happened against Villanova with poor rebounding and UConn with a 10-minute scoring drought. The margin of error is minuscule.

"Our guys played with great energy, played hard. I thought we came with great focus and had some really good moments in the game," Miller said. "We didn't have enough great moments to win."

Does Dailyn Swain stick in Sean Miller's starting 5?

Rewind a month ago and it'd be difficult to imagine the impact freshman Dailyn Swain has had for the Musketeers. Swain played just 24 combined minutes in wins over Cincinnati and Winthrop, scoring 4 points on 1-of-3 shooting with 2 blocks.

Swain had his best performance in Xavier's 92-91 win over Georgetown, capping off the Musketeers' second-half comeback with the game-winning dunk with 33 seconds to go.

Swain moved into the starting lineup for the first time in his young collegiate career on Tuesday against Creighton after Gytis Nemeiksa had an illness. Swain turned in 9 points (the most since the loss to Delaware Dec. 5) to go with six rebounds, two assists and two blocks. He hit his first 3-pointer since the loss at Purdue Nov. 13.

"It's been baptism by fire for an 18-year-old freshman into the role that he has," Miller said. "There are some plays that he makes that not a lot of guys on our team can make with his athleticism and length."

Nemeiksa was playing well before getting sick, so it's unknown if Swain will stick in Miller's starting rotation. Whatever happens, it's hard to deny the impact Swain has on the game. At 6-foot-7, Swain's athleticism has always stood out in practice. It was just a matter of the freshman unlocking and playing loose when the lights were on.

Miller talked about the "light bulb" moment for a freshman to figure it out after Trey Green's breakout performance at Providence, and it seems Swain may've had his. Miller's been able to utilize the Columbus native's length at the top of the 1-2-2 full-court press, which has been a key tool for the Musketeers since Christmas.

Xavier's offense continues to climb

Forgotten in another close-but-no-cigar performance in Omaha was Xavier's offense. Desmond Claude tied a team-high with 20 points, despite going 0-for-8 from the field in the second half. Xavier scored 78 points and committed just five turnovers, all with leading scorer Quincy Olivari adding just 4 first-half points and going 5-of-12 from the field for the game.

"Regardless of how you get to 78 points, 5 turnovers, that's not an easy thing to do against Creighton in Omaha," Miller said.

Xavier is now averaging 83 points over its last five games since being held to just 36.8% from the floor in a 66-65 loss to Villanova Jan. 3. In that span, they've faced three defenses ranked in the top 30 in overall defensive efficiency, according to KenPom: UConn (No. 28), Providence (No. 8) and Creighton (No. 14).

You can point to guard Dayvion McKnight as the biggest difference in Xavier's offense. McKnight is averaging 19.3 points over the last three games and has scored in double figures in eight of the last 11 games.

Looking ahead from an offensive perspective, Xavier visits No. 1 UConn on Sunday. The Huskies rank No. 6 in KenPom defending 2-point shots (43.1%) and are No. 15 in effective field goal percentage (45.2%). UConn has been particularly difficult to score on at home. Dan Hurley's group has not allowed more than 67 points at home this season and is giving up just 59 points per game at home against Big East opponents.

Last time out, UConn stymied Creighton's offense in a 62-48 win, limiting the Bluejays to just 34.2% shooting (18-of-52) overall and 23.1% from the perimeter (6-of-26).

Xavier women's basketball update

Xavier women's basketball (1-16, 0-8) remains winless in the Big East after falling to Butler at Cintas Center on Wednesday.

Senior guard Mackayla Scarlett has returned from injury to lead the Musketeers. The Bronx, New York, native has scored 39 points over the last two games and was 6-of-10 from the field with 18 points over 34 minutes in the loss to Butler. Scarlett is averaging a team-high 13 points per game this season.

Senior forward Nila Blackford is averaging 8.5 points and leads the team in rebounding (8.5). She has three double-doubles on the year.

Xavier remains home on Saturday to host Providence (10-11, 4-4 Big East) before visiting St. John's (11-9, 5-3) Jan. 31.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Xavier notebook: Does Dailyn Swain stick in Sean Miller's starting 5?