Men's Basketball Continues The Homestand On Saturday Vs. Evansville

Saturday, November 10

Cincinnati, Ohio

4 p.m.

Xavier University

Evansville

Men's Basketball Continues The Homestand On Saturday Vs. Evansville

11.09.18 | Men's Basketball

Xavier Game Notes vs. Evansville Network Clearance List For Evansville at Xavier

Musketeers shoot for a 2-0 start to the new season.

By: Tom Eiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI --- The Xavier Musketeers, 1-0, host the Evansville Purple Aces, 0-1, on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Cintas Center. The matchup is a renewal of Xavier's rivalry with an old MCC foe.

Xavier played 16 seasons in the MCC (Midwestern City Conference and later the Midwestern Collegiate Conference) and Evansville was its biggest rival for the first 15 of those 16 years. Xavier never played in the conference under its current name, the Horizon League. XU was in the MCC for 16 years (1980-1995) and the Atlantic 10 for 18 years (1996-2013). This season marks Xavier's sixth year in the BIG EAST.

Xavier leads the series with Evansville 26-14, although the two teams have met only once since XU left the MCC following the 1994-95 season. XU defeated UE 63-60 in the 2013-14 season (12-10-13).

THE MATCHUP

Xavier University Musketeers (1-0)
University of Evansville Purple Aces (0-1)
Maui Jim Maui Invitational
Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018 at 4:00 p.m. ET
Cintas Center (10,224) in Cincinnati

TV, RADIO AND LIVE STATS

Television: FSN, including FOX Sports Ohio, with play-by-play from Adam Alexander and analysis from Doug Gottlieb.
Xavier Radio: 700 WLW-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).
Live Stats: Media stats at Statbroadcast.com. Fan stats at GoXavier.com.

X FACTORS

• Xavier and Evansville were rivals for 16 seasons in the MCC (Midwestern City Conference and later the Midwestern Collegiate Conference) from 1980-1995.
• Xavier defeated IUPUI 82-69 on Opening Night at Cintas Center on Tuesday. Graduate transfer Ryan Welage led XU with 24 points on the strength of six 3-pointers, while junior Tyrique Jones added 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
• Xavier first-year head coach Travis Steele made a successful official debut with the win over IUPUI on Tuesday. Steele is the 18th head coach in Xavier history.
• Xavier has now won 29 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 has won 40 straight non-conference home games at Cintas Center with its last loss coming in the 2012-13 season.
• Xavier, which sold out the opener vs. IUPUI, has sold out 19 straight home games.
• Xavier's tri-captains for the 2018-19 season, as voted by the players, are juniors Quentin Goodin and Tyrique Jones and graduate transfer Kyle Castlin.
• Xavier sophomore Naji Marshall, a member of the 2018 BIG EAST Conference All-Freshman Team, was selected 2018-19 preseason All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention. Marshall contributed 13 points and a career-high seven assists in the opener.
• 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.

VIDEO: TRAVIS STEELE