Xavier University Athletics
Xavier University
Kentucky Wesleyan College
Men's Basketball Opens Season With Exhibition Vs. Kentucky Wesleyan
10.31.18 | Men's Basketball
First-year head coach Travis Steele ready for 2018-19 season.
CINCINNATI --- Xavier is playing its lone public exhibition game of the season vs. Kentucky Wesleyan, an NCAA Division II member from Owensboro, Ky.
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THE MATCHUP |
Xavier University Musketeers
vs. Kentucky Wesleyan College Panthers
EXHIBITION SEASON OPENER
Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018 at 7 p.m. ET
Cintas Center (10,224) in Cincinnati
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RADIO / TV / LIVE STATS |
No radio, television or stream broadcast. Live stats available at GoXavier.com.
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X-FACTORS |
• Xavier is playing its lone public exhibition game of the season. XU celebrates Opening Night on Tuesday, Nov. 6 vs. IUPUI at Cintas Center.
• Kentucky Wesleyan is an NCAA Division II member from Owensboro, Ky.
• Xavier has played Kentucky Wesleyan nine times during the regular season, winning all nine games, although the last meeting was in the 1940-41 season.
• Xavier junior Quentin Goodin is XU's top returning scorer (8.7 ppg.) and junior Tyrique Jones (4.5 rpg.) is the top returning rebounder for first-year head coach Travis Steele, who was on the XU staff for 10 years previously. Xavier lost the top three scorers from last year's team.
• Despite the losses from last season, Xavier has some quality experience returning. Junior Quentin Goodin has started 52 straight games, including all 35 as a sophomore. Junior Tyrique Jones started 32 games in his first two seasons, including 19 as a sophomore. Sophomore Naji Marshall started 18 games in his first season, including each of the final 11 games. Sophomore Paul Scruggs played in 34 games as a freshman, averaging 16.8 minutes a game.
• Xavier's Quentin Goodin was third in the BIG EAST in assists at 4.9 apg. and assist/turnover ratio at 2.14 last season.
• Xavier's Naji Marshall, who was named to the 2018 BIG EAST Conference All-Freshman Team, was selected 2018-19 preseason All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention.
• Xavier's non-conference home schedule includes Wisconsin as part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games. The road portion of the non-conference slate includes tests against two 2018 NCAA Tournament teams at Cincinnati and Missouri. Xavier travels to the Maui Jim Maui Invitational for games Nov. 19-21 against a field that includes Duke, Arizona, Gonzaga, San Diego State, Auburn, Illinois and Iowa State. The eight teams in the field averaged 24.0 wins last season and six of them made the NCAA Tournament: Xavier, Duke, Arizona, Gonzaga, San Diego State and Auburn.
• Xavier won its first BIG EAST Conference Regular Season Championship last season with a 15-3 record and finished with a 29-6 overall record. XU, a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history, played in its fifth straight NCAA Tournament and its 12th in the last 13 years in 2018.
• Xavier has graduated 109 straight men's basketball seniors dating back to the 1985-86 school year.
