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Arizona vs. Xavier prediction roundtable with the Campus Insiders staff. Breaking down what will happen between the Wildcats and Musketeers in their Sweet 16 matchup on Thursday evening.

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Jeff Bartl

Sean Miller faced his former team two years ago in the Sweet 16 and came away victorious. It’ll be the same result this year. Xavier is playing some of its best basketball of the season, having beaten Maryland and Florida State by double digits, but Arizona just has too many weapons. Allonzo Trier and Lauri Markkanen will have solid performances that Musketeers star Trevon Bluiett won’t be able to overcome as the Wildcats move on to the Elite Eight.

Robert Judin

Arizona went 4-of-11 from three in each of its first two games so far. So, that’s one way Xavier can attack the Wildcats. Make them shoot the ball from deep. Clog the lane, get back on defense and stop the ball, and dare Arizona to shoot. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Musketeers force Allonzo Trier to hoist up most of those shots. He hasn’t been very efficient so far, and Xavier might bank on him having another streaky night.

At the same time, Arizona needs to continue to control the glass. It has the ability to dominate Xavier in the rebounding category, and it should. Lauri Markkanen needs to continue to find his shot, but he also needs to crash the offensive boards. If he does, and the Wildcats can force Trevon Bluiett to give up the rock, they’ll be in a great spot to win. And that’s exactly what I think will happen. I’m picking Arizona here.

Dave Miller

Chris Mack has done another fine job with his Musketeers, and he should be one of the leading candidates to replace Tom Crean at Indiana if the Hoosiers have watched any film of Xavier basketball under his guidance. After losing his most important player and point guard in the middle of the season, Mack still has Xavier back in the Sweet 16. In a high-scoring affair, Arizona gets off to a much better start than it did against St. Mary’s in the second round, when Sean Miller’s team played sluggish throughout the first 20 minutes of play. The Wildcats will get the key buckets in the final minutes from Allonzo Trier, as ‘Zona escapes a big performance from Xavier’s Trevon Bluiett to advance to the Elite Eight.

Kurt Schwerman

Xavier came into this season with high hopes, and rightfully so as they have a very talented roster. Things just didn’t pan out the way they wanted them to during the regular season. Now they appear to be hitting their stride at just the right time. Having said that, Arizona is is just too strong in too many areas for Xavier to overcome. Allonzo Trier and Lauri Markkanen present a major challenge for any team, and unfortunately for the Musketeers, they’re not equipped to overcome those two.

Brian Stultz

I like Xavier, only because it shares a mascot with my high school. (Greenup County Musketeers shoutout!) Unfortunately, Arizona is too loaded with talent to be taken down by this X team. Also, if you are ever in Tucson, I recommend going to Mi Nitido for the margaritas and food. Quite yummy.

MORE: Complete NCAA Tournament Bracket, Predictions, Analysis