Men's Basketball Takes On Top Seed UConn At Noon At Madison Square Garden

Thursday, March 14

New York, N.Y.

12 p.m.

Xavier University

UConn

Men's Basketball Takes On Top Seed UConn At Noon At Madison Square Garden

03.14.24 | Men's Basketball

GAME NOTES VS. UCONN

Musketeers won their first-round game over Butler.

By: Tom Eiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

NEW YORK --- The No. 9 seed Xavier University Musketeers, 16-16 overall, take on the No. 1 seed University of Connecticut Huskies, 28-3, on Thursday at noon at Madison Square Garden. UConn is ranked No. 2 in both of the major polls.

This is the first time that Xavier and UConn have met in the BIG EAST Tournament. In fact, Xavier has played all nine other teams at least once already. Xavier is coming off a 76-72 first-round win over Butler on Wednesday, while UConn had a first-round bye.

THE MATCHUP

NO. 9 SEED XAVIER UNIVERSITY MUSKETEERS (16-16, 9-11 BIG EAST)
NO. 1 SEED UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT HUSKIES (28-3, 18-2 BIG EAST)
THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2024 AT 12:00 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 Jim Jackson. 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 sophomore Desmond Claude, who was named the BIG EAST Most Improved Player, is second on the team in scoring at 16.3 ppg. (11th in the BIG EAST), assists at 3.2 apg. (15th in the BIG EAST) and free-throw percentage at .791 (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 .421.
• Xavier's Quincy Olivari has 101 3-point field goals this season, which leaves him just four shy of single-season school-record holder Trevon Bluiett (105 in 35 games in 2017-18). Olivari has 2,110 points in his college career.
• Xavier senior Dayvion McKnight is second in the BIG EAST and 19th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.10. He leads the team and is fourth in the BIG EAST in assists at 4.9 apg. and leads the team (eighth in the league) in steals at 1.6 spg. McKnight, who has averaged 15.8 ppg. for the last 16 games, is third on the team in scoring at 12.7 ppg.
• Xaviers guard trio of Quincy Olivari, Desmond Claude and Dayvion McKnight have combined to average 13.5 rpg. Olivari is second on the team at 5.6 rpg. and leads the team in defensive rebounding at 5.0 rpg. The trio also contributes 48.5 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. Freshman Kachi Nzeh has started four of the last five games and freshman Lazar Djokovic started yesterday vs. Butler. Four different XU freshmen have started a game.
• Xavier senior Abou Ousmane is fourth in the BIG EAST in offensive rebounding (2.8 rpg.) and is tied for seventh in blocks (1.2 bpg.).
• Xavier's Abou Ousmane enters the UConn game with 996 career points, leaving him just four points shy of 1,000.