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Trevon Bluiett's Wednesday return to the lineup for Xavier men's basketball didn't pay immediate dividends but it certainly seemed to change the outlook for a Musketeers team that's suddenly in need of victories.

Now, some fine-tuning in other aspects of Xavier's collective game appears to be what's separating the team from the victories that have eluded them the last two weeks.

Xavier head coach Chris Mack stressed on Friday the need for the Musketeers to improve in all facets aheads of a Sunday afternoon clash with the No. 22-ranked Butler University Bulldogs (22-6, 11-5).

"We have to be better in all areas," Mack said during a Friday news conference at Cintas Center. "It's not one thing that we have to do better. Our team has had issues in different areas. One night it's taking care of the basketball. One night it's generating better shots. One night it's being able to guard dribble penetration."

Over Xavier's four-game losing streak, they were without Bluiett for the better part of three games after he turned an already-injured right ankle against Villanova.

Bluiett's return was an immediate injection of competitiveness. Despite the loss at Seton Hall, Xavier threatened the hosts all the way through to the final buzzer.

"It's good to have Trevon back - period," Mack said. "He's one of our best players, if not the best. An all-conference player at that."

Bluiett alone can't produce victories, though, and he didn't against the Pirate.

As Mack alluded to, Xavier's been undone by a variety of maladies. Against Seton Hall, turnovers and foul trouble for the bigs proved major factors.

What Xavier lacked over the four consecutive losses was a complete game. They still didn't get one with Bluiett, but Bluiett got them much closer.

Butler, the Big East Conference's No. 2 team, is coming off a convincing road upset of Villanova. The Bulldogs also edged Xavier in the teams' first meeting, an 83-78 game in which Edmond Sumner sparked Xavier to a near-win in the final minutes.

Of course, Xavier won't have Sumner, who was lost for the season through injury in the interim, but Bluiett's return saw him rejoin a starting lineup combination that helped Xavier to a four-game winning streak following Sumner's season-ending injury.

"We all have to be better at the things that we're working hard on on Sunday against a very good team," Mack said. "A team that's been doing it at a high level all year, and we're very well aware of that."

THE LOSING STREAK

By virtue of an ongoing four-game losing streak, Xavier's standing in the Big East Conference and in NCAA Tournament seeding projections starting to slip. The Musketeers need wins over the next three regular season games and in the Big East Tournament to reach a desirable position come NCAA Tournament time.

Not that they need any additional motivation, but wins would also stem the tide of what could quickly become a losing streak of historic proportions.

Xavier on Wednesday lost its fourth straight game. The defeat marked the program's first four-game losing streak since 2012-13 and the second four-game slide in Mack's tenure as head coach.

A loss to Butler would mark Xavier's first five-game losing streak since 1981-82 when that crop of Musketeers lost six straight in January of 1982.

Overall, Xavier's had six four-game losing streaks since 1980. It's rare for a Xavier team to slump like this, and it's happening at a particularly inopportune moment for the 2016-17 team.