Men's Basketball Hosts DePaul On Saturday On Military Appreciation Night

Saturday, February 9

Cincinnati, Ohio

8 p.m.

Xavier University

DePaul

Men's Basketball Hosts DePaul On Saturday On Military Appreciation Night

02.07.19 | Men's Basketball

Xavier Game Notes vs. De Paul

Military Appreciation Night is presented by the Student Veterans Center at Xavier.

By: Tom Eiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI --- The Xavier University Musketeers, 11-12 overall and 3-7 in the BIG EAST Conference, return home on Saturday night at Cintas Center to host the DePaul University Blue Demons, 12-9 overall and 4-6 in the BIG EAST Conference, on Military Appreciation Night presented by the Student Veterans Center at Xavier. XU is looking to snap a five-game losing streak, while DePaul is coming off a 67-55 win over Providence on Feb. 2 in Chicago.

Xavier leads the series with DePaul 14-9, including nine straight wins over the Blue Demons and wins in 12 of the last 13 meetings. XU is 11-1 vs. DePaul since the two teams became BIG EAST rivals in the 2013-14 season. Xavier erased a 16-point second-half deficit vs. DePaul last season on its way to a 77-72 win at Cintas Center.

Xavier opened BIG EAST play this season with a 74-65 win at DePaul on Dec. 29. The Musketeers led 38-32 at halftime but fell behind by six points, 61-55, with 5:12 left. XU closed the game on a 19-4 run. Sophomore Naji Marshall led Xavier with a game-high 19 points to go with a game-high and career-high 14 rebounds and four assists.

THE MATCHUP

Xavier University Musketeers (11-12, 3-7 BIG EAST)
DePaul University Blue Demons (12-9, 4-6 BIG EAST)
Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019 at 8:00 p.m. ET
Cintas Center (10,224) in Cincinnati

TV, RADIO AND LIVE STATS

Television: FS1 with play-by-play from Aaron Goldsmith and analysis from Nick Bahe.
Xavier Radio: 700 WLW-AM, including via iHeart Radio, TuneIn and via Sirius (81), XM (81) and Internet (81) 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, 11-12 overall and 3-7 in the BIG EAST Conference, lost its fifth straight game on Sunday vs. Creighton in Omaha, Neb.
• Xavier has five players averaging in double figures in scoring through 23 games.
• Xavier sophomore Paul Scruggs leads the team in scoring (17th in the BIG EAST at 13.0 ppg.), free-throw percentage (.815) and 3-point field goal percentage (fourth in the BIG EAST at .456).
• Xavier junior Quentin Goodin, who leads the team in assists (third in BIG EAST at 4.9 apg.), has 396 career assists and moved into the top 10 on XU's all-time career assist leader list during his seven-assist game at Creighton on Feb. 3.
• Xavier soph. Naji Marshall, who had a team-high 16 points at Georgetown, is second on the team in scoring (18th in the BIG EAST at 13.0 ppg.), rebounding (eighth in the BIG EAST at 6.8 rpg.) and assists (13th in the BIG EAST at 3.3 apg.).
• Xavier junior Tyrique Jones, who had a career-high 21 points with 11 rebounds vs. Marquette, leads the team in rebounding (fifth in the BIG EAST at 7.2 rpg.) and offensive rebounding (first in the BIG EAST and 22nd in the nation at 3.3 rpg.).
• Xavier graduate transfer Zach Hankins leads the BIG EAST Conference in field goal percentage (.704) and is second in the BIG EAST in blocks (1.4 bpg.). Hankins is on pace to break the XU single-season field goal percentage mark of former NBA standout Brian Grant (.654 in 1992-93).
• Xavier played in its fifth straight NCAA Tournament and its 12th in 13 years in 2018. XU earned a No. 1 seed in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
• Xavier has graduated 109 straight men's basketball seniors dating back to the 1985-86 school year.

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