Men's Basketball Is At Texas This Weekend For A Sunday Clash With The Longhorns

Sunday, March 24

Austin, Texas

4 p.m.

Xavier University

Texas

Men's Basketball Is At Texas This Weekend For A Sunday Clash With The Longhorns

03.22.19 | Men's Basketball

Xavier vs. TEXAS NIT Game Notes

Xavier has won eight of its last 10 games.

By: Tom Eiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI --- The No. 3 seed Xavier University Musketeers, 19-15, visit the No. 2 seed University of Texas Longhorns, 17-16, on Sunday at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. The NIT Second Round game tips off at 3 p.m. CT (4 p.m. ET) on ESPN. The winner of this game will host a quarterfinal game next week.

The Xavier-Texas series is tied 2-2. The last two meetings have come in NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinals. Xavier defeated then-No. 12 Texas 79-71 in a 2004 NCAA Regional Semifinal at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga., earning XU its first-ever trip to the NCAA Elite Eight. Xavier led Texas 53-41 at halftime in a 1990 Regional Semifinal at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas, but fell to the Longhorns 102-89. Xavier won the only meeting so far in Austin, 66-64 in overtime in the 1982-83 season.

Xavier is 16-6 in the postseason National Invitation Tournament, including the first round win over Toledo. This is XU's eighth NIT appearance but its first since 2000 when it beat Marquette in the first round in Xavier's final game played at Cincinnati Gardens on March 15, 2000, before losing at Notre Dame in the second round. Xavier reached at least the NIT Quarterfinals in each of its first six appearances, including the 1958 NIT Championship run.

Xavier, 19-15, needs one more win to secure its sixth straight 20-win season, its 13th in the last 14 years and its 21st in the last 23 years. Xavier has now won eight of its last 10 games, a stretch that includes wins over Villanova, Toledo, at Seton Hall, St. John's (home and away), Creighton (home and neutral site) and at Providence. All of those teams made the NCAA Tournament or NIT fields.

THE MATCHUP

No. 3 Seed Xavier University Musketeers (19-15)
No. 2 Seed University of Texas Longhorns (17-16)
Sunday, March 24, 2019 at 4:00 p.m. ET (3:00 P.M. CT)
NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND
Frank Erwin Center (16,540) in Austin, Texas

TV, RADIO AND LIVE STATS

Television: ESPN with play-by-play from Ted Emrich and analysis from Lance Blanks.
Radio: 55KRC-AM with play-by-play from XU Hall of Famer and former XU 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, 19-15 overall, has won eight of its last 10 games, including the NIT win over Toledo on Wednesday. All of those opponents for those 10 games are in either the NCAA Tournament or NIT fields; that includes six road and neutral site games.
• Xavier sophomore Naji Marshall had 20 points and a career-high 21 rebounds vs. Toledo, the most rebounds and first 20-20 since David West in the 2000-01 season.
• Xavier needs one win for its sixth straight 20-win season and its 13th in 14 years.
• Xavier is making its sixth straight postseason appearance and its 13th in 14 years. This is XU's eighth NIT appearance but its first since 2000.
• Xavier tied for third place at 9-9 in the BIG EAST Conference regular season race.
• Xavier head coach Travis Steele is a finalist for the Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year Award, given annually to the nation's top first-year head coach in Division I.
• Xavier has five players averaging in double figures in scoring.
• Xavier's Naji Marshall, Second Team All-BIG EAST selection, leads the team in scoring (13th in the BIG EAST at 14.5 ppg.) and is second in rebounding (seventh in the BIG EAST at 7.2 rpg.) and assists (10th in BIG EAST at 3.4 apg.).
• Xavier graduate transfer Zach Hankins leads the BIG EAST in field goal percentage (.684) and is second in blocks (1.6 bpg.).
• Xavier sophomore Paul Scruggs, a BIG EAST Conference Championship All-Tournament Team member, posted career highs of 28 points and 11 rebounds plus seven assists vs. Villanova on March 15.
• Xavier junior Quentin Goodin, who leads the team in assists (third in BIG EAST at 4.8 apg.), has 446 career assists and is ninth on XU's all-time career assist leader list. He has 144 assists this season in 30 games, the 18th-best season total in XU history.
• Xavier junior Tyrique Jones leads XU in rebounding (fourth in the BIG EAST at 7.6 rpg.) and offensive rebounding (first in BIG EAST and 16th in the nation at 3.4 rpg.).
• Xavier has graduated 109 straight men's basketball seniors.

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