Six, nineteen seven hundred wilwr Nol Carrier Sports doc presented by Kelsey Chevalley. A Lance Canlister Musketeers coming to any bottom of the yard, Joe and Byron. We'll set it up. Let's talk some college basketball, serve up some weekend hoops conversation. A big fan of our first guest a college basketball broadcaster, A versatile multitasker. He calls games, he watches games, he talks games. He's the host of the wildly popular The
Rebound Rundown podcast. That must mean we're talking to Paul Frichner.
How are you, Lance?
I appreciate you having me on. Yeah, getting ready for some hoops here at ten thoughts tonight and busy weekend all around around the Try State.
So I appreciate you having me on.
You've got a good catching up. Let's start with the Musketeers. A lot of emotion and energy spent in winning the shootout is the case all the time. It's always interesting to see how the teams react and recover for that next game. Xavier can't afford a letdown certainly tonight.
Yeah, no doubt about it. Zebra.
Over their last twenty two home games, following the Crosstown shootout, when you follow up the shootout with a home game. Xavier's nineteen and three in their last twenty two, so they handle it pretty well coming out of winning a game like that. But yeah, week off, it was finals
week this week for Xavier. So you got to get back to the drawing board and think to yourself, if you want to accomplish some things this season, right if you if you have larger goals this year to try and pick up some significant wins, and Richard Patino in year one at Xavier, you can't afford to drop a game like tonight where you're almost a twenty point favorite. This is a game for Xavier where Missouri State is
gonna try and muck it up. They draw a ton of fouls, they commit a ton of fouls, they're fine to go to the free throw line and Xavier on their end. You know, it's changed so much. They changed the starting lineup of about a month ago. Now it's worked to perfection. They were points away from beating Georgia down in Charleston. Now they've ripped off four or five
straight wins. Trying to lead into this game tonight with a win and close out the non conference season on a high note before Big East play starts on Wednesday.
Well, you mentioned the lineup change, and I think for people who look and saw what happened at Santa Claire and wondered the path Zager might be on, that was truly a defining at least early on in turning point of the season, wasn't it.
Yeah it was.
I mean they ended up losing that game by nineteen, but look, it was a thirty point game with less than two and a half minutes left. That could have easily been way worse than it was. And they got back to the drawing board in between that Monday and Friday when they went to play Iowa, and they made some significant changes. You know, they went to Alright at the point, Yovan Malischevich at the five. And what that does is it gives you a more potent offensive lineup.
You might give a little bit up defensively with some size, but it gives you something offensively and it's worked great.
Now.
They lost by nineteen to Iowa, but it was a different kind of nineteen point loss. They were kind of in that game for a little bit until it got out of hand. And now They've been able to ride that wave over the last few games.
You know, heading into tonight.
So they beat Cincinnati, they beat West Virginia, they have some by game wins in there as well, and you know Creighton coming to town on Wednesday. That'll be a statement tone setter to start Big East play.
You see his first game since the shootout tomorrow at Atlanta. They take on Georgia. The Bearcats non conference resume doesn't have much on it. It's got damage in the Eastern Michigan game. How important is the opportunity in terms of tournament resume, If that's the ultimate goal for the Bearcats, it is vitally important.
Lance you go to Georgia to play this game down in Atlanta. Technically it's a neutral site game, but look, you're playing this game in Atlanta, it's basically an away game, and you play Clemson as well, and so you figure if you're Cincinnati, you pretty much have to get those two wins leading into Big Twelve play.
There's a very easy.
Argument you could make at the Big Twelve is the strongest conference in the country right now. You probably say the Big Tens just a step above, but the Big Twelve is looking fantastic this year, and so there will be plenty of opportunities for Cincinnati within conference play to build your resume, but maybe don't put yourself in such a hole to where you have to do that in Big Twelve play, because it's going to be so tough
night in and night out. If you can get the Georgia game against a really good Georgia team that so far only has the one loss, and the one loss is to Clemson in Charleston, and then you go and you play Clemson as well.
If you can get those two games and you finish.
The non conference season with three losses, the Eastern Michigan loss is what's really going to be holding Cincinnati back. I mean, the loss is Xavier, it's not a killer. The loss of Loiso definitely not a killer. Losll is a national title contender. The lost of Eastern Michigan you have to you have to really right the ship, and you can do that. You can start by doing that with beating Georgia and Clemson here to close the non conference Paul.
Fritchender checking in top level of hoops from the rebound Rundown Kentucky Welcome's Eye, you to RUP one very cool to have that rivalry back on too. Are Kentucky's issues fixable, Paul, or are they terminal in terms of hopes of a deep run in March.
Yeah, I really don't know if this Kentucky team is fixable right now, Lance, because they have a lot of talent and sure, you know Jalen Lowe, Jacon Quaintan's they dealt with injuries this season, no doubt, but they don't have a high major win yet. And Indiana's coming. Like you said, I think you're spot on.
I love that this game is being played.
I love that Kentucky and Indiana are playing, you know, at Rupp Arena. It's not a neutral site game. It's Indiana going on the road to rup But Kentucky playing simply doesn't have enough shooting on this roster. Their offensive issues have been terrible. They just have not looked like a cohesive unit and so because of.
That, they've looked out of sorts.
They haven't gotten great effort out of the guys they've needed good effort from, and they've looked, you know, at times very good, but at times they looked really really bad. And you know, I think there is a lack of shooting on this team, that's going to hold it back. And you know, Low and Quaintance not playing is certainly gonna hinder their possibilities this season as well.
Maybe flying under the raid Army they shouldn't be. Travis Steels RedHawks are ten and Oh they're at Eastern Kentucky and Paul, you know that in watching them, the efficiency of that Miami offense is really something to watch, isn't it.
Yeah, it is. They're a really really fun team. Evan Ipsorrow, the point guard, went to Coming and Catholic, a local product. They're a really fun team. The other night, you know, it was a bit of a heart attack type game for Miami.
They were up sixteen or eighteen.
With about six and a half minutes left and then that game ended up going to overtime, but they gritted it out. Suitor, who was the preseason player of the year in the MAC, he filed out and they were still able to grit that went out. Really nice win at Asheville. Miami's in the midst of a four game a road trip right now, four game road series before they come back home, and hey, they're.
Nine to zero.
They go to ten and Oh tomorrow night. If they go to ten and oh, they will match their best start in program history. They've started ten and oh twice Lance, but it was back in nineteen eighteen and nineteen forty four, so it's been a long time. They haven't played the most challenging schedule. But you know, I had Travis Steele on the Rebound rundown this summer and he said, look,
it's not because of the lack of trying. I've been trying to schedule a lot of these games, but these high major schools aren't incentivized to play the you know, one to one fifty type team that might end up beating you, And so that the high major schools want to beat up on the smaller teams, which is understandable because that's how the net all works out right now. But in Miami, they've won, the games are in front of them. That's all you can do, and right now they're undefeated.
All right, let's get to the really important question. During the shootout, you partnered with Red Panda to toss the balls to her. It was a flawless execution on both ends. Where would that currently rank on lifetime accomplishments of Paul Fritcher.
It's number one lance and there's no doubt about it. I've been watching Red Panda since I was a little kid.
I love it. I've been going again.
I mean, I'm telling you, she is the best. She's the nicest person in the world. I'd met her once before a halftime show, but I hadn't been able to throw the bulls. And the marketing team came to me about a month ago and said, hey, for the Crossdown shootout, she's going to be here at halftime, can you throw the bulls? And I said it'd be the greatest honor of my life, and and it was fantastic. She's the
nicest lady ever. I'm glad to see she's back after she broke her wrist last year, and she puts on a heck of a show, no doubt.
No doubt, fantastic. All Right, tell everybody who has not checked it out, and they certainly should tell them about The Rebound Rundown and how they can get involved and listen to it.
Yeah, the Rebound Rundown. It's available on every major podcast platform. It's an audio based show, but there are video components to it as well, so you can subscribe to the Rebound Rundown on YouTube. The interviews get posted there, some film breakdown, some you know, cinematic recaps. We've been at Cincinnati, will be at Dayton on Tuesday for the Florida State game.
We go to Cincinnati where Xavier.
We're all over the place here covering college basketball locally, Miami, NKU.
All of that. So check it out the Rebound Rundown. Appreciate all of you subscribing and listening. I love it.
It is so well done, so informative, and I really appreciate you making time tonight to enjoy the hoops tonight in this weekend.
All right, absolutely, you two land come a good weekend. All right you too.
There you go, Paul Fritcher, check it in the Rebound Rundown. I love the rundown. Xavier and Missouri State coming up. Musketeers and Bears. They've met one previous time. That was the twenty nineteen twenty twenty season, sentas fifty nine to fifty six to the final Tyreek Jones at fifteen. In
that game. Paul Scruggs had fourteen in that game. Xavier leads the Big East and they are fourth in the entire country and assist the turnover ratio, meaning they dish the assist and they don't turn it over much to assist over to assist to every ratio of just over two in that category. Savior at last check was an eighteen and a half point favorite, still at this moment eighteen and a half point favorite, total of one forty
eight and a half in that one. One last note before Joe and Byron, if you're considering the deck the Halls tomorrow at the Red's Hall of Fame in Museum noon to three. First fifty guest get a limited edition Hall of Fame giveaway item. Kids are admitted free. Adults receive half price admission if they are wearing a holiday themed apparel, a sweater, a Santa hat, you name it. Red's mascots will be there for photo ops. My guys, the eighteen sixty nine Red stockings there for photo ops.
Tell them I said hey. Kids' activities including a station to write letters to Santa and holiday coloring, and don't forget the meet and greet. Tucker Barnhardt and JJ Hoop on the scene from one to two. I wish I had more tonight. I don't, but I'm excited to check out what the Musketeers do. Joe and Byron will set it up next. This has been RNL Carrier Sports Talk, presented by Kelsey Chevrolet seven hundred ww