No. 5 Xavier Hosts No. 1 Villanova in a BIG EAST Showdown on Wednesday at Cintas Center

Wednesday, February 24

Cincinnati, Ohio

7 P.M.

Xavier University

Villanova University

Tickets

No. 5 Xavier Hosts No. 1 Villanova in a BIG EAST Showdown on Wednesday at Cintas Center

02.22.16 | Men's Basketball

Villanova is the first No. 1 team to play in Cintas Center

By: Tom Eiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - No. 5 Xavier, 24-3 overall and 12-3 in the BIG EAST Conference, hosts No. 1 Villanova, 24-3 overall and 13-1 in the BIG EAST, on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. Villanova is the first No. 1 team to play in Cintas Center, which opened for the 2000-01 season.

THE MATCHUP

No. 5 Xavier University Musketeers (24-3, 12-3 BIG EAST)
No. 1 Villanova University Wildcats (24-3, 13-1 BIG EAST)
Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. ET
at Cintas Center (10,250) at Xavier University

TELEVISION AND RADIO

Television: FS1 with play-by-play from Gus Johnson and analysis from Bill Raftery. FS1 pre-game/halftime/post-game talent: Kevin Burkhardt and Steve Lavin.
Xavier Radio: 700 WLW-AM with play-by-play from Xavier Hall of Famer and former Musketeer standout Joe Sunderman ('79). Analysis will be provided by Xavier Hall of Famer and XU all-time leading scorer Byron Larkin ('88).

X-FACTORS IN 140 CHARACTERS

• Xavier, 24-3 overall and 12-3 and in 2nd place in the BIG EAST, is coming off its 3rd straight win, an 88-70 win at Georgetown on Sat.
• Xavier is hosting its first No. 1-ranked opponent since the 1999-2000 season, the year before Cintas Center opened.
• Xavier is No. 5 in both the AP and USA Today Coaches polls; this is XU's 11th straight week in the top 10 of the AP Poll.
• Xavier has recorded three straight 20-win seasons and 10 in 11 years.
• Xavier head coach Chris Mack, named midseason National Coach of the Year by Sporting News, is ESPN.com's top candidate for National COY.
• Xavier soph. Trevon Bluiett is on the Midseason Watch List for the Naismith POY Award and a finalist for the Julius Erving Award.
• Xavier sr. James Farr is 4th in the BIG EAST in rebounding (8.1 rpg.), 7th in FG% (.538) and t-14th in blocks (1.1 bpg.).
• Xavier jr. Myles Davis leads XU in assists (3.9 apg.) and FT% (4th in BE at .857), one of four XU players in the top 15 in BIG EAST FT%.
• Xavier fr. Edmond Sumner won his fifth BIG EAST Freshman of the Week award on Monday; scored 16.5 ppg. and shot 71.4% in 2 Xavier wins.
• Xavier is 22-0 this season when leading at halftime and when shooting at least 40 percent from the field.
• Xavier has made nine of the last 10 NCAA Tournaments, one of only 11 schools that have at least nine in that stretch.
• Xavier has been to five NCAA Sweet 16s in the last eight years, one of only nine schools with at least five in that stretch.
• Xavier has graduated the last 96 men's basketball players that have played as seniors, including all three seniors from last year's team.

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