Men's Basketball Celebrates Opening Night On Tuesday Vs. IUPUI

Tuesday, November 6

Cincinnati, Ohio

8:30 p.m.

Xavier University

IUPUI

Men's Basketball Celebrates Opening Night On Tuesday Vs. IUPUI

11.05.18 | Men's Basketball

Xavier Game Notes vs. IUPUI_1

This is first official game for new head coach Travis Steele.

By: Tom Eiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI --- The Xavier Musketeers celebrate Opening Night for the 2018-19 season on Tuesday night at Cintas Center vs. IUPUI. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. Xavier opens the season under new leadership with first-year head coach Travis Steele, who spent the past 10 years on the Xavier staff.

Xavier has impressive streaks on the line on Tuesday night. Xavier has won 28 straight regular season openers (27 at home and one on the road) with its last loss in an opener coming in the 1989-90 "Sweet 16" season. In addition, the Musketeers have won 39 straight non-conference home games with its last loss coming in the 2012-13 season.

Tuesday's game opens a three-game homestand for the Musketeers. XU welcomes Evansville on Nov. 10 and Wisconsin on Nov. 13. The Evansville game has been designated as Xavier's Maui Jim Maui Invitational Opening Game, a non-bracketed part of the tournament that sends XU to Maui later this month. The Wisconsin game is part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games, the annual challenge between the BIG EAST Conference and the Big Ten Conference.

TV/RADIO/LIVE STATS

Television: FS2 with play-by-play from Rich Waltz and analysis from Jordan Cornette.
Xavier Radio: 55KRC-AM, including via iHeart Radio and TuneIn, with play-by-play from XU 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). Broadcast is also available via Sirius XM (391) and Internet (982).
Live Stats: Media stats at Statbroadcast.com. Fan stats at GoXavier.com.

X-FACTORS

• Xavier's Travis Steele is making his official debut as the Musketeers' head coach. Steele is the 18th head coach in Xavier history.
• Xavier has won 28 straight regular season openers with its last loss coming in the 1989-90 season, a season that ended in XU's first-ever NCAA Sweet 16.
• Xavier is opening the regular season at Cintas Center for the 19th straight season.
• Xavier has won all 18 of its season openers at Cintas Center, including an 101-49 win over Morehead State last season (11-10-17).
• Xavier has won 39 straight non-conference home games at Cintas Center with its last loss coming in the 2012-13 season.
• Xavier is 245-36 (.872) all-time at Cintas Center. Xavier's all-time winning percentage at its on-campus home is ranked fourth in the nation.
• Xavier defeated Kentucky Wesleyan, an NCAA Division II member from Owensboro, Ky., 98-69 on Nov.1 in its lone public exhibition. Three Musketeers scored 20 points or more: Tyrique Jones (22), Naji Marshall (22) and Paul Scruggs (20).
• 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 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.

TRAVIS STEELE