Men's Basketball Opens BIG EAST Tournament Play On Wednesday Vs. Butler

Wednesday, March 13

New York, N.Y.

4 p.m.

Xavier University

Butler

Men's Basketball Opens BIG EAST Tournament Play On Wednesday Vs. Butler

03.11.24 | Men's Basketball

GAME NOTES VS. BUTLER

The winner of Wednesday's game plays No. 1 seed UConn on Thursday.

By: Tom Eiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

NEW YORK --- The Xavier University Musketeers, 15-16 overall and 9-11 in the BIG EAST Conference, open BIG EAST Conference Tournament play on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Madison Square Garden vs. the Butler University Bulldogs, 18-13 overall and 9-11 in the BIG EAST. Butler, which has been off since hosting Xavier on March 6, is the No. 8 seed and Xavier is the No. 9 seed. XU is coming off an 86-80 loss on Saturday to No. 8 Marquette, which will be the No. 3 seed at MSG.

Xavier and Butler, which split the two regular season meetings this season, have also split four all-time meetings in BIG EAST Tournament play.

THE MATCHUP

NO. 9 SEED XAVIER UNIVERSITY MUSKETEERS (15-16, 9-11 BIG EAST)
NO. 8 SEED BUTLER UNIVERSITY BULLDOGS (18-13, 9-11 BIG EAST)
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2024 AT 4:00 P.M. ET
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN IN NEW YORK

TV, RADIO AND LIVE STATS

Television: FS1 with play-by-play from Tim Brando and analysis from Bill Raftery. Sideline reporter is Kristina Pink.
Xavier Radio: 700 WLW-AM with play-by-play from Xavier Hall of Famer Joe Sunderman ('79) 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 leads the BIG EAST and is fourth in the nation in fastbreak points at 16.1 ppg.
• Xavier sophomore Desmond Claude, who was named the BIG EAST Most Improved Player, is second on the team in scoring at 16.0 ppg. (11th in the BIG EAST), assists at 3.2 apg. (15th in the BIG EAST) and free-throw percentage at .792 (12th in the BIG EAST). He averaged 4.7 ppg., 1.8 apg. and shot .571 from the free-throw line as a freshman.
• Xavier graduate student Quincy Olivari, who was named BIG EAST Honorable Mention by league coaches, leads the BIG EAST in scoring at 19.5 ppg. and 3-point field goals at 3.2 per game (17th in the nation). He is second in the BIG EAST and ninth in the nation in 3-point percentage at .432.
• Xavier senior Dayvion McKnight is second in the BIG EAST and 19th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.14. He leads the team and is fourth in the BIG EAST in assists at 5.0 apg. and leads the team (eighth in the league) in steals at 1.5 spg. McKnight, who has averaged 15.5 ppg. for the last 15 games, is third on the team in scoring at 12.4 ppg.
• Xavier freshmen Dailyn Swain and Trey Green were named to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team by league coaches. Teammate Desmond Claude was on the team last season.
• Xavier has 10 newcomers on the 2023-24 roster, including six freshmen who have logged 29.5 percent of the minutes played this season, the most for XU since 1995-96.
• Xavier freshman Kachi Nzeh, one of four Xavier freshmen to start at least one game this season, contributed a career-high 13 points to go with a career-high tying six rebounds at Georgetown on March 2. He has started each of the last four games.
• Xavier senior Abou Ousmane is fourth in the BIG EAST in offensive rebounding (2.9 rpg.) and is tied for seventh in blocks (1.2 bpg.).
• Xavier milestone alert: Abou Ousmane enters the BIG EAST Tournament with 990 career points, leaving him just 10 points shy of 1,000. Quincy Olivari has 98 3-point field goals this season, which leaves him just seven shy of single-season school-record holder Trevon Bluiett (105 in 35 games in 2017-18). Olivari has 2,091 points in his college career.
• Xavier Athletic Hall of Famer J.P. Macura, who was a key member of XU's 2018 BIG EAST Regular Season Champions, will be honored during the Butler game as part of the BIG EAST Basketball Legends Program. XU's 2018 team earned an NCAA No. 1 seed.