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Sweet 16 Preview: No. 7 West Virginia at No. 3 Xavier
Oddsmakers have made West Virginia a one-point favorite for Thursday's contest against Xavier. (AP Images)
The West Virginia Mountaineers have college star Joe Alexander on their side but Xavier has something that's even better in the college ranks, balance.
"We have a number of different players that can answer the bell on offense," Musketeers coach Sean Miller said. "It's a really unique team to guard, because on different nights different people can beat you."
All five starters on the Musketeers score at least 10 points per game, but not one averages over 12. It's that kind of unselfishness that makes them a handful for any team looking to find a way to stifle their offense.
With their balance on offense they've been able to beat and cover two tough opponents in the first two rounds - No. 6 Purdue and No. 14 Georgia.
Oddsmakers have given West Virginia the edge, which is surprising since their play basically relies on Alexander. Alexander leads the team in points (16.8), rebounds (6.1) and is second in blocks (46), but he can be contained. Arizona was able to stifle him in the first round. He had just 14 points off 4-12 shooting after averaging 26.3 in his past six, which made for a closer contest than the final score (75-65) would indicate. Xavier has a better defense than Arizona (the Musketeers rank 48th in the NCAA while the Wildcats ranked 130th) and could dispatch the Mountaineers if their other role players don't step up.