Men's Basketball Opens 2026-27 Season with 97-52 Win Over the Mount

Monday, November 2

Cincinnati, Ohio

7:00 PM

Xavier University

1-0,0-0Big East

Mount St. Mary's

0-1,0-0Metro

Team	1	2	F
Mount St. Mary's	16	36	52
Xavier	51	46	97

11.2.26 - Xavier Men’s Basketball vs Mt. St. Mary’s

Photo by: Katie Stratman

11.02.26 | Men's Basketball

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Chance Westry leads four in double figures with 17 points

By: Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Four Musketeers hit double figures as Xavier men's basketball opened the 2026-27 season with a 97-52 win over Mount St. Mary's at Cintas Center on Monday evening.

Xavier returns to Cintas Center on Friday, Nov. 6, to host Eastern Michigan, set for a 7:00 p.m. tip on ESPN+.

NOTABLES

Back-to-back threes from Jovan Milicevic started a 13-0 run for the Musketeers to open the game, with Xavier building the lead out to 29-3 in the first 10 minutes of the game.
The Musketeers led 39-5 going into the final four minutes of the half, leading by as many as 37, 51-14, before going into the break up 51-16.
Chance Westry and Jovan Milicevic each had nine points to lead the Musketeers in the first half.
Xavier built the lead out ot as many as 47, 75-28, in the second half before winning by a final margin of 97-52.
Chance Westry lead the Musketeers with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor.
Jovan Milicevic had 14 points, connecting on 5-of-9 from the floor, including hitting three outside shots.
Mike Nwoko had 10 points, going 5-of-6 from the floor.
Tru Washington had 10 points and seven boards.
Xavier finished with a 56-33 advantage on the boards, with Nikos Chitikoudis leading Xavier withh 11, and Tru Washington and Filip Borovicanin each grabbing seven.
Filip Borovicanin and Kalek House each had six assists.
The Musketeers had 17 turnovers to 19 for the Mountaineers, but Xavier finished with a 27-13 advantage on points off turnovers.
Xavier's 45 point margin of victory is Xavier's largest margin of victory since setting a school record with 61-point win over Morgan State on Dec. 12, 2024.
The Mountaineers' 16 points at the half were the fewest since Xavier held Oakland to 12 points on Nov. 25, 2020.
The 51-16 halftime differential is the largest since the Musketeers took a 41-point lead into the half with Oakland (53-12) on Nov. 25, 2020.
The Musketeers have now won 37-straight regular season openers, an active streak that ranks best in the nation.