Men's Basketball Closes Out The Regular Season At Villanova On Saturday

Saturday, March 7

Villanova, Pa.

12 p.m.

Xavier University

Villanova

Men's Basketball Closes Out The Regular Season At Villanova On Saturday

03.05.26 | Men's Basketball

GAME NOTES AT VILLANOVA

The BIG EAST Tournament starts next Wednesday.

By: Tom Eiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI --- The Xavier University Musketeers, 14-16 overall and 6-13 in the BIG EAST Conference, visit the Villanova University Wildcats, 23-7 overall and 14-5 in the BIG EAST, on Saturday at noon in the regular season finale for both teams.

The 2026 BIG EAST Tournament begins next Wednesday, March 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York. XU can still finish as the No. 8, 9 or 10 seed in the tourney, which would mean a first game at 4 p.m. (8 vs. 9) or 6:30 p.m. (7 vs. 10) on Wednesday.

BROADCAST AND LIVE STATS INFORMATION

TV/Stream: TNT and HBO Max with play-by-play from Brian Anderson and analysis from Grant Hill. Andy Katz is the reporter.
Xavier Radio: 55KRC with play-by-play from XU Hall of Famer Joe Sunderman ('79) and analysis from XU all-time leading scorer and Hall of Famer Byron Larkin ('88); XU broadcast is also available on the Xavier Musketeers App., Varsity Network and the Sirius XM App.
Live Stats: Media stats at Statbroadcast.com and fan stats at GoXavier.com.

X FACTORS

• Xavier, 14-16 overall and 6-13 in the BIG EAST Conference, is coming off a 77-68 loss to Seton Hall on Tuesday. Senior Filip Borovićanin led four Xavier double-figure scorers with 15 points to go with seven rebounds and seven assists.
• Xavier leads the BIG EAST and is 12th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.75; XU has two of the top five players in the BIG EAST in assist-to-turnover ratio in senior Malik Messina-Moore (fourth at 2.66) and senior Filip Borovićanin (fifth at 2.53).
• Xavier has connected on 282 3-pointers this season, which leaves them just four 3-pointers shy of breaking the single season school record of 285 set last season.
• Xavier graduate student Tre Carroll, who left the game with Seton Hall with an injury after four minutes and 0 points, still is in a tie for the BIG EAST lead in scoring for all games (18.0 ppg.) and is now third for BIG EAST games only (18.6 ppg.). Xavier has never had a player lead the BIG EAST in scoring for all games or league games only.
• Xavier sophomore Jovan Milićević has scored in double figures in 12 of the last 14 games, including a career-high 23 points (hitting 5-7 3-pointers) in the Marquette win on Feb. 14.
• Xavier's Jovan Milićević is second on the team in scoring at 12.0 ppg. and eighth in the BIG EAST in 3-point field goals per game (2.0). He has averaged 14.0 ppg. over the last 14 games.
• Xavier senior Filip Borovićanin leads the team in rebounding (fifth in the BIG EAST at 7.8 rpg.) and assists (fifth in the BIG EAST at 4.3 apg.) and is second in assist-to-turnover ratio (fifth in the BIG EAST at 2.53). He is third in the BIG EAST with nine double-doubles.
• Xavier senior Malik Messina-Moore is second on the team in scoring for BIG EAST games at 13.1 ppg., which ranks tied for 17th in the league. He has scored in double figures in 15 of XU's 19 BIG EAST games, including 20 points at Butler on Feb. 21.
• Xavier graduate student Roddie Anderson III was named to the BIG EAST Conference Honor Roll on March 2 after averaging 24.0 ppg. for two games the previous week. He is the fifth different Musketeer who has earned a weekly league honor this season.