Xavier @ Arizona State preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 15, 2007 ) Xavier 55, Arizona State 77

Fourteenth-ranked Xavier is one win away from winning a holiday tournament for a third straight year. The Musketeers will try to accomplish that feat Friday when they play unbeaten Arizona State in the championship game of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational at the Orleans Arena.

Xavier, which won the Advocare Invitational in 2015-16 and the Tire Pros Invitational last season, advanced to the title game Thursday afternoon with an 83-64 victory over old Atlantic 10 rival George Washington. Although the Musketeers won by 19 points, the outcome was not nearly as lopsided as the final result with Xavier going scoreless for almost six minutes during one stretch when the Colonials cut a 14-point deficit to six points. That's something that head coach Chris Mack says will need to change in the title game. "Maybe I should be looking more 'big picture,' but I just like to win," Mack said. "We took our foot off the gas pedal for about five minutes and we've got to be able to correct that and hopefully we will."

TV: 5:30 p.m. ET, FOX

ABOUT XAVIER (5-0): The Musketeers return three starters from a team that went 24-14 and advanced all the way to the Elite Eight a year ago. Senior guard Trevon Bluiett is a national player of the year candidate who is averaging 23.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists and earned Big East Player of the Week honors after scoring 25 points and pulling nine rebounds in Xavier's 80-70 victory at Wisconsin. Senior guard J.P. Macura, the only Musketeer to start every game last season, is second in scoring (12.0) and assists (3.8) and leads the team in steals (2.0) while forwards Tyrique Jones (11.6) and Kaiser Gates (10.2) also are averaging in double figures in points.

ABOUT ARIZONA STATE (5-0): The Sun Devils held off a late Kansas State run to defeat the Wildcats, 92-90, behind a career-high 28 points by senior guard Kodi Justice, who finished 9-of-10 from the floor and was 4-of-4 from 3-point range. Returning guards Tra Holder and Shannon Evans II are off to hot starts with Holder entering the tournament averaging a team-best 22.3 points, 6.3 assists and 1.8 steals while also shooting 48.3 percent from 3-point range while Evans is second in scoring (20.3) and assists (6.0) while shooting 46.7 percent beyond the arc. Freshman forward Romello White (18.3), lanky 6-10 junior college transfer De'Quon Lake (14.5) and Justice (12.3) also are averaging in double figures with White also grabbing a team-leading 10.7 rebounds per game.

TIP-INS

1. Bluiett, a two-time first team all-Big East pick, has scored at least 20 points in each of the first five games.

2. Xavier finished with a 54-16 edge in points in the paint in its win over George Washington.

3. Arizona State is 5-0 for just the second time in 32 seasons and for the first time since the 2013-14 NCAA Tournament squad started 6-0.

PREDICTION: Xavier 94, Arizona State 90