Souley Boum shares main concern with Texas matchup

Xavier is going to have to deal with a talented Texas team in the Sweet Sixteen, and Musketeers guard Souley Boum knows that this is going to be an incredibly difficult matchup.

As Boum explained, the Musketeers need to counter the Longhorns’ athleticism, which starts with playing in transition and rebounding.

“First off, looking at them, they’re a very talented team,” Souley Boum said. “They’re very athletic. First of all, we’re going to have to get back in transition. That’s going to be one of the keys to the game. We’re going to have to be able to box out in this tournament and in this game because they have a lot of guys that they send to the glass.”

Souley Boum knows he has to step up for Xavier to take on Texas’ star talent. This season, Boum has averaged 16.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game this season.

“So we can’t give them easy buckets, free buckets, just crashing the glass and not boxing out, missing box-outs and giving up easy baskets in transition, threes, layups, and all that.”

Xavier and Texas will meet in the Sweet Sixteen on Friday night. The winner will go on to play either Houston or Miami in the Elite Eight.

“So we’ve got to be on our P’s and Q’s with that,” Souley Boum emphasized.

Rodney Terry on his relationship with Souley Boum

Texas Longhorns interim head coach Rodney Terry has a relationship with Souley Boum. That’s because Terry used to be the head coach at UTEP, where Boum was the point guard. Now, their relationship has come full circle as they compete against one another.

Terry opened up about that relationship before the game, which he seems to genuinely cherish.

“Souley Boum, I just saw Souley in the hallway. You talk about a great kid, one of my favorites to coach. Came to us at UTEP after having a really successful rookie campaign as a freshman at San Francisco. We knew he was coming. He was on the All West Coast Conference rookie team,” Terry said.

“He was a guy that was wired to score. He was a guy that came in that we played a lot at the two. I made him play a little bit at the point, and he wasn’t really happy playing at the point because he didn’t get to keep the ball in his hands as much as he wanted to…Just a fierce competitor, great kid. Love him like my own son. We’ll be major competitors come Friday night, though. He wants to win. I want to win. But I can’t say enough great things about him as a person and love his mom as well.”