West Regional Semifinal Preview: West Virginia vs. Xavier

West Regional Semifinal
#7 West Virginia Mountaineers vs. #3 Xavier Musketeers
Thursday, March 27, 7:10 ET

The first semifinal in the West Regional will pit West Virginia from the Big East against Xavier from the Atlantic-10. The winner of this matchup will take on the winner of the UCLA-Western Kentucky game on Saturday. With 2 wins already in the tournament, both teams will be looking to capitalize on their momentum.

Here's a breakdown of each team:

West Virginia Mountaineers

Who they have beaten thus far:
Arizona, 75-65
Duke, 73-67

Why they can win:
So far, they have shown that they can win games by outshooting and outhustling their opponents. Against Arizona, they used 11 3-pointers to ride to a 10-point victory. When Duke focused on taking away their outside opportunities, they instead grabbed 18 offensive rebounds and converted 19 of 22 shots from the foul line to grind out another win.

Why they can lose:
Rebounding can be an issue. In their last loss of the year against Georgetown, they were pounded on the boards, 36-19. The shots were not necessarily falling last game against Duke, but they made up for it by gaining a huge margin on the boards. If they do not show the same type of urgency that they did against Duke, they could shoot themselves right out of the game in a hurry.

Player to watch:
Joe Alexander is as tough a matchup as there is in college basketball. He is listed as a forward at 6-8, but plays like a guard, showing an ability to handle the ball and hit jumpers over smaller defenders. He has not shot the ball particularly well so far, going 11-34 for 32%. But, he has gone 13-14 from the free throw line to somewhat make up for his ineffectiveness. He's normally a 46% shooter, so logic would dictate that he will have a hot shooting game at some point. Throw in over 6 boards a game, and he's proven to be an all-around threat.

Xavier Musketeers

Who they have beaten thus far:
Georgia, 73-61
Purdue, 85-78