No. 3 Seed Xavier Meets No. 2 Seed Texas In A NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional Semifinal

CINCINNATI --- The No. 3 Seed Xavier University Musketeers, 27-9, battle the No. 2 Seed University of Texas Longhorns, 28-8, on Friday night at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. Xavier and Texas are meeting in a NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal for the third time. XU won the meeting in 2004 and Texas won in 1990.

Xavier is one of only 11 schools that have made at least seven NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances in the last 15 tournaments (since 2008). The list includes Kansas (9), North Carolina (9), Duke (9), Gonzaga (9), Michigan State (9), Kentucky (8), Xavier (7), Arizona (7), Wisconsin (7), Syracuse (7) and Michigan (7). Of those 11 schools only Xavier, Michigan State and Gonzaga are still alive in the 2023 Sweet 16.

THE MATCHUP

NO. 3 SEED XAVIER UNIVERSITY MUSKETEERS (27-9)
NO. 2 SEED UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS LONGHORNS (28-8)
NCAA TOURNAMENT SWEET 16 AT T-MOBILE CENTER (KANSAS CITY, MO.)
FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2023 AT 9:45 P.M. ET

TV, RADIO & LIVE STATS

Television: CBS, including Local 12 in Cincinnati, with play by-play from Jim Nantz and analysis from Bill Raftery and Grant Hill. Tracy Wolfson is the sideline reporter.
National Radio: Westwood One with Kevin Kugler and Robbie Hummel.
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). Also on Sirius.
Live Stats: Media stats via Statbroadcast.com and fan stats at GoXavier.com.

X FACTORS

• Xavier is 27-9 overall and finished second at 15-5 in the BIG EAST Conference regular season.
• Xavier is one of only 11 schools that have made at least seven NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances in the last 15 tournaments (since 2008).
• Xavier's Sean Miller is coaching as a head coach in his eighth NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, including his third with Xavier. Miller has taken XU to at least the Sweet 16 in each of his last three seasons as the Xavier head coach (2023 Sweet 16, 2009 Sweet 16 and 2008 Elite Eight).
• Xavier is one of five BIG EAST teams that made the 2023 NCAA Tournament field. XU had a 4-1 record vs. the two other BIG EAST teams in the Sweet 16: Creighton (2-1) and UConn (2-0).
• Xavier leads the BIG EAST in four major offensive categories: first in the nation in assists per game at 19.2 apg., sixth in the nation in overall field goal percentage (.493), fifth in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.389) and 11th in the nation in scoring offense at 81.2 ppg. XU is second in the BIG EAST and ninth in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.55.
• Xavier senior Jerome Hunter, who averaged a team-high 19.0 ppg. and 5.0 rpg. in XU's first two NCAA games while shooting 66.7 percent from the field, has averaged 10.8 ppg., 5.9 rpg. and 1.9 apg. since taking over a spot in the starting lineup for the last 14 games.
• Xavier graduate student Souley Boum leads the team in scoring (second in the BIG EAST) at 16.5 ppg. and is second in assists at 4.3 apg. (ninth in the BIG EAST). Boum, a First Team All-BIG EAST and an AP Honorable Mention All-America selection, is fifth among active career Div. I scorers with 2,445 points.
• Xavier junior Colby Jones is second on the team in scoring at 15.0 ppg. (11th in the BIG EAST) and leads the team in assists at 4.3 apg. (eighth in the BIG EAST). The All-BIG EAST Second Team and Second Team All-District (NABC) selection, contributed 10 points, a career-high 14 rebounds and seven assists in the NCAA Second Round win over Pittsburgh.
• Xavier graduate student Jack Nunge, the BIG EAST Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention, is third on the team in scoring at 14.1 ppg. (14th in the BIG EAST) and leads the team in rebounding at 7.7 rpg. (fourth in the BIG EAST).

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