Xavier Hosts No. 6 Houston On Friday Night At Cintas Center

Friday, December 1

Cincinnati, Ohio

6:30 p.m.

Xavier University

Houston

Xavier Hosts No. 6 Houston On Friday Night At Cintas Center

11.30.23 | Men's Basketball

GAME NOTES VS. HOUSTON

Game is part of the BIG EAST-Big 12 battle series.

By: Tom Eiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI --- The Xavier University Musketeers, 4-3, host the No. 6 University of Houston Cougars, 7-0, on Friday night at Cintas Center. The two teams have not met since the 1977-78 season.

Friday's game is part of the annual BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle series. XU is 4-0 in past games as part of the series with wins over West Virginia, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and TCU.

THE MATCHUP

XAVIER UNIVERSITY MUSKETEERS (4-3, 0-0 BIG EAST)
NO. 6/5 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON COUGARS (7-0, 0-0 BIG 12)
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2023 AT 6:30 P.M. ET
AT CINTAS CENTER IN CINCINNATI, OHIO

TV, RADIO AND LIVE STATS

Television: FS1 with play-by-play from Matt Schumacker and analysis from Donny Marshall.
Xavier Radio: 700 WLW with play-by-play from Xavier Hall of Famer Joe Sunderman ('79) and analysis from XU all-time leading scorer and Hall of Famer Byron Larkin ('88). XU broadcast is also on the Varsity Network and on SXM.
Live Stats: Media stats at Statbroadcast.com and fan stats at GoXavier.com.

X FACTORS

• Xavier is playing the third game of a six-game homestand.
• Xavier holds a 4-0 mark in the BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle games, including last season's win over West Virginia. XU has also defeated Oklahoma and won at Oklahoma State and at TCU as part of the series.
• Xavier sophomore Desmond Claude leads the team at 16.7 ppg. (tied for fourth in the BIG EAST), including 24 vs. Oakland. Claude, the only Musketeer who has scored in double figures in every game, is the only returnee from last season that has played a game.
• Xavier graduate student Quincy Olivari, who posted a season-high 22-point game vs. Bryant, has scored in double figures six times, including each of the last four games. He leads the team in rebounding at 5.1 rpg.
• Xavier senior Dayvion McKnight leads the BIG EAST Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 4.63. Over the last five games that ratio is a gaudy 7.0.
• Xavier freshman Lazar Djokovic was named BIG EAST Conference Freshman of the Week after posting his first double-figure scoring game (10) of the season vs. Bryant.
• Xavier head coach Sean Miller holds a 151-60 (.716) mark in his seventh season leading Xavier, which is good for third place on Xavier's all-time wins list.
• Xavier has 10 newcomers on the 2023-24 roster, including six freshmen and four transfers. All 10 newcomers have played this season. Freshman Lazar Djokovic, who sat out the first three games with a hand injury, has played in the last four games.
• Xavier has three international players on its 2023-24 roster, including freshmen Lazar Djokovic (Serbia) and Saša Ciani (Slovenia) and senior Gytis Nemeikša (Lithuania).