Because of a key injury and the departure of his leading scorer, Xavier coach Chris Mack didn't expect his team to celebrate a record-tying fifth consecutive Atlantic 10 championship before its regular-season finale.
The 23rd-ranked Musketeers can secure an outright title and a ninth straight victory Saturday by winning at Saint Louis.
Mack entered his second campaign as a collegiate head coach without Jordan Crawford, who left for the NBA after averaging a league-best 20.5 points during his lone season at Xavier. He then lost one of his top 3-point shooters, Brad Redford, to a preseason knee injury.
Leading rebounder Jamel McLean also broke a cheek bone in an exhibition game but missed only one contest. While trying to adjust to those changes, the Musketeers started 8-5 but found their groove in conference play.
Xavier did that by relying heavily on its starting lineup, which has averaged nearly 33 1/2 minutes. Leading scorer Tu Holloway (19.9 ppg) has logged a team-high 38.3 per game.
Because of those efforts, Xavier (23-6, 14-1) has a chance to match its 15-1 record in the A-10 from 2002-03. The Musketeers' best finish in league play was a 14-0 mark in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference in 1994-95, the season before they joining their current conference.
"Who would have thought a couple of months ago that we'd be cutting down the net on our home court with one game to go?'' Mack said following a 68-48 home rout of Charlotte on Wednesday.
Dante Jackson led four players in double figures in that win with 18 points, but Holloway finished with a season-low four. The junior guard, though, fared better against the Billikens (12-17, 6-9) on Feb. 5, scoring 24 points in a 76-68 win.
That loss was part of a 3-12 stretch for Saint Louis, but it enters this matchup having won a season-high four in a row. Leading scorer Mike McCall (10.2 ppg) had 17 points - two shy of matching his career high - in a 69-51 win at Dayton on Wednesday, his fifth straight game in double figures.
McCall, a freshman guard, had eight points on 2-of-8 shooting against Xavier, but Brian Conklin scored a career-high 24 while making 11 of 15 shots. Rob Loe also had 18 points and made all four of his attempts from 3-point range.
With Conklin and Loe's help, the Billikens led early in the second half before Xavier pulled away for its sixth consecutive win in the series. Holloway scored 20 points over the final 20 minutes.
"They're very good, a stunning array of athletes," Saint Louis coach Rick Majerus said following that defeat. "They play hard. They play together. They're well-coached. ... You've got to give Xavier a lot of credit. They're a terrific team."
Majerus has lost his only two home matchups with Xavier, but the Billikens coach but his teams have given the Musketeers all they can handle.
They had to rally for a 73-71 victory last season and made the winning shot with 0.1 seconds left during a 70-68 win Feb. 7, 2008.
Xavier hasn't won nine in a row since an 11-game run Dec. 31, 2008-Feb. 5, 2009.
