Xavier's season-opener on Tuesday night was a lot more uncomfortable than it should have been and there were a few reasons for that.
The offense was far from beautiful or captivating and it certainly wasn't the reason Xavier managed to hold on for a 63-60 win over Niagara.
The defense gets a fair amount of credit for that. But Paul Scruggs gets the lion's share of credit.
"He looked like an All-Big East guard. He looked like an All-American level guard," said Xavier head coach Travis Steele. "We need him to do that for 40 minutes from the jump.