Xavier Opens Richard Pitino Era with Win Over Marist

Monday, November 3

Cincinnati, Ohio

7:15 p.m.

Xavier University

1-0,0-0Big East

Marist

0-1,0-0MAAC

Marist

Xavier

Xavier Opens Richard Pitino Era with Win Over Marist

11.03.25 | Men's Basketball

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Musketeers upend Red Foxes, 66-62, at Cintas Center on Monday Night

By: Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier men's basketball opened the Richard Pitino Era with a 66-62 win over Marist at Cintas Center on Monday night.

The Musketeers continue their three-game homestand on Thursday, Nov. 6 vs Le Moyne. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. with the game being aired on ESPN+.

NOTABLES

The first half had two ties and one lead change. Marist led by one point (16-15) with 4:59 left in the first half before the Musketeers went on a 14-3 run to close the half.
Xavier led by as many as 13 points (29-16) with 49 seconds left in the first half before taking 10-point advantage (29-19) into the break.
Malik Messina-Moore led all scorers at the break with nine points. Tre Carroll added seven points and two rebounds.
Xavier was 13-for-16 from the foul line in the first half. The Musketeers also forced 11 turnovers, converting the miscues into 12 points.
The Musketeers extended their lead to 20 points (40-20) with with 16:38 left in the contest. Marist battled back to regain the lead, 60-59, with 3:22 on the clock.
Xavier outscored Marist, 7-2, down the stretch to pull away for the six point-win. The Musketeers went 4-for-5 from the foul line to close the game.
Malik Messina-Moore led four Musketeers in double figures with 16 points. The senior guard was 4-for-10 from the floor and 7-for-7 from the foul line. He added three rebounds, two assists and one steal.
Jovan Milicevic and All Wright each scored 14 points, combining to go 8-for-13 from the floor.
Anthony Robinson pulled down a team-high five rebounds and posted a game-high three steals. He added four points.
Xavier finished the game with a .340 field-goal percentage and went 7-for-26 from behind the arc. The Musketeers were also 23-for-32 from the charity stripe.
Marist hit 47.7 percent (21-for-44) of its shot attempts and went 3-for-10 from three-point range. The Red Foxes were also 17-for-25 from the foul line. Rhyjon Blackwell scored a game-high 24 points.
Xavier scored seven more points off of turnovers (15-8) than Marist and scored six more second-chance points (11-5). The Red Foxes won the battle on the glass, 33-31.
Marist also scored four more bench points (32-28) than Xavier and scored 12 more points in the paint (28-16).