Providence (19-7) was one of the top teams in the Big East Conference before suffering four losses to Xavier, DePaul, Villanova and Marquette in recent weeks. They'll look to rebound at Xavier (22-3) tonight at 7 p.m. ET, but the Musketeers are hoping to catch the No. 1 Villanova Wildcats.
Scroll to the bottom for the college basketball live stream and radio broadcast for tonight's matchup.
Xavier is coming off a quality road win at Butler after which they dominated the Bulldogs 74-57. They'll seemingly run into Providence at the right time. The Friars have lost four of their last six (all conference games) and have fallen to fifth in the Big East, but they'll be looking to get revenge on Xavier following a 75-68 defeat at the hands of the Musketeers back on Jan. 26.
Providence, the No. 23-ranked team in the nation, scraped by Georgetown over the weekend with a 75-72 victory, but they relinquished a 20-point halftime lead and were outscored by 17 points in the second half. That doesn't bode well in terms of how they've been playing recently, and it'll be no easy task to get back on track tonight against No.8-ranked Xavier.
The Musketeers' balanced attack features guard Trevon Bluiett, who leads the team in scoring with 15 points per game, as well as forward James Farr, who leads the team in rebounds per game (8.4) and blocks per game (1.1). Farr was held scoreless against Butler over the weekend, so he'll be looking to take advantage of Providence's interior (their 37 rebounds per game ranks 138th in nation).
Xavier also only has one home loss this year, which was suffered back on Jan. 19 against Georgetown.
However, if Providence's top scorers Ben Bentil (20.4 ppg) and Kris Dunn (17.1 ppg) manage to get hot tonight, it'll likely be a battle to the end. The two weren't as efficient as usual the last time these two teams met, as they combined for 14-33 from the field, including 3-12 from downtown. Their 41 total points were formidable, but Xavier's balanced attack ended up being the difference maker.
Maybe Providence can replicate Creighton's gameplan against Xavier. The Blue Jays held Xavier to just 56 points last Tuesday and shut down the Musketeer's guard play (they finished 8-38 from the field in the 14-point loss).
With a lot on the line tonight, this should make for another entertaining Big East matchup.
Click here for the live stream for tonight's game and check out the live radio broadcast for Xavier here and Providence here.
