Men's Basketball Travels To Georgia For NIT Matchup With The Bulldogs

Tuesday, March 19

Athens, Ga.

7 p.m.

Xavier University

Georgia

Tickets

Men's Basketball Travels To Georgia For NIT Matchup With The Bulldogs

03.18.24 | Men's Basketball

GAME NOTES VS. GEORGIA

Georgia native Quincy Olivari is looking forward to a return home.

By: Tom Eiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI ---- The Xavier University Musketeers, 16-17, will visit the University of Georgia Bulldogs, 17-16, for National Invitation Tournament First Round action on Tuesday, March 19. Game time is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN. The radio call can be heard on 55KRC.
The Musketeers are making their 10th all-time appearance in the postseason NIT. XU won its second NIT Championship with a win over Texas A&M at Madison Square Garden in 2022. XU also won the NIT title in 1958.

Xavier is making its 35th postseason appearance in the last 41 postseasons in 2024 (2020 canceled by the pandemic), including 28 NCAA Tournament berths and seven NIT berths during that time. Xavier earned a spot in the 2023 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.

THE MATCHUP

XAVIER UNIV. MUSKETEERS (16-17) VS. UNIV. OF GEORGIA BULLDOGS (17-16)
NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND
TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 2024 AT 7 P.M. ET
STEGEMAN COLISEUM IN ATHENS, GA.

TV, RADIO AND LIVE STATS

Television: ESPN with play-by-play from Roy Philpott and analysis from Richard Hendrix.
Xavier Radio: 55KRC-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 is making its 10th all-time appearance in the postseason NIT. XU won its second NIT Championship in 2022. XU also won the title in 1958. XU is 21-7 in the NIT, including a 9-0 record in first round games.
• Xavier leads the BIG EAST and is fifth in the nation in fastbreak points at 15.6 ppg. XU is third in the BIG EAST and 27th in the nation in assists at 16.2 apg.
• Xavier sophomore Desmond Claude, who was named the BIG EAST Most Improved Player, is second on the team in scoring at 16.2 ppg. (ninth in the BIG EAST), assists at 3.2 apg. (15th in the BIG EAST) and free-throw percentage at .795 (10th 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, a native of Atlanta, Ga., is second in the BIG EAST in scoring at 19.4 ppg. He leads the BIG EAST in 3-point field goals at 3.2 per game (17th in the nation) and is second in the BIG EAST and 20th in the nation in 3-point percentage at .416. He is seventh in the league in free throw percentage at .811.
• Xavier's Quincy Olivari, BIG EAST Honorable Mention selection, has 104 3-point field goals this season, which leaves him just one 3-pointer shy of single-season school-record holder Trevon Bluiett (105 in 35 games in 2017-18). Olivari has 2,127 career points.
• Xavier senior Dayvion McKnight is second in the BIG EAST and 19th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.08. He leads the team and is sixth in the BIG EAST in assists at 4.8 apg. and leads the team (eighth in the league) in steals at 1.5 spg. McKnight, who has averaged 15.3 ppg. for the last 17 games, is third on the team in scoring at 12.5 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 5.1 rpg. The trio also contributes 48.1 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 29.6 percent of the minutes played this season, the most for XU since 1995-96. Four different XU freshmen have started at least three games each.
• Xavier senior Abou Ousmane, fourth in the BIG EAST in offensive rebounding (2.8 rpg.) and tied for seventh in blocks (1.2 bpg.), is two points shy of 1,000 collegiate points.