Xavier 12/14 2:00 ESPN+

[GoBearcats31]

Zach Freemantle and Jerome Hunter are healthy again. Keeping Freemantle off the boards will be crucial as he's the leading rebounder by far. Ryan Conwell is averaging 16.6 points per game followed by Freemantle and McKnight.

Conwell is a stud. Interestingly, averaged 16.6 ppg last season as well at Indiana State, which included 18 points (3/7 from three), 6 rebounds, 4 assists in Indiana State's NIT win over UC.

Stat to keep an eye on: Xavier is 139/179 from the FT line (77.7%), whereas UC is 63/106 (59.4%). X is not only getting to the line more frequently, but obviously they are connecting at a much better rate. UC's Page (24), Mitchell (19) and Bandaogo (17) are the only Bearcats with more than 9 free throw attempts. Xavier has eight different players with 10+ attempts--including its four top players all at 27 or more. X guards Conwell, Dailyn Swain and Davyion McKnight have combined for 81% FT shooting on 84 attempts.

XU is 29th in the nation in FT%, while UC is 361th ahead of only Stephen F. Austin, Charleston Southern and Queens University.

[Bearcat93]

This game’s only on the +? Wow.

[bearcatbret]

Watch party locations. Crosstown Shootout | University of Cincinnati

[London 'Cat]

The way this game has gone for UC in recent years does not give me much confidence. That and the miserable performance against Villanova are big red flags for UC’s chances in this game. Hopefully the home crowd can help.