By Marisol Nicholson

Musketeers are 9-1 in BIG EAST home openers at Cintas Center

CINCINNATI — The Xavier University Musketeers, 6-6 overall and 0-1 in the BIG EAST Conference, host the Seton Hall University Pirates, 8-4 overall and 1-0 in the BIG EAST Conference, on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. in their final game of calendar year 2023. XU is looking to bounce back from a Wednesday road loss at St. John’s, while Seton Hall is coming off a Wednesday home win over No. 5 UConn to open league play.

Xavier is 9-1 in BIG EAST Conference home openers at Cintas Center with its only loss being to Seton Hall in the 2018-19 season. The Musketeers defeated Seton Hall in their BIG EAST home opener last season and swept the season series.

XAVIER UNIVERSITY MUSKETEERS (6-6, 0-1 BIG EAST)
SETON HALL UNIVERSITY PIRATES (8-4, 1-0 BIG EAST)
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2023 AT 2 P.M. ET
AT CINTAS CENTER IN CINCINNATI, OHIO

Television: FS1 with play-by-play from Matt Schumacker and analysis from Dickey Simpkins.
Xavier Radio: 55KRC with play-by-play from Xavier 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 on the Varsity Network and on SXM.
Live Stats: Media stats at Statbroadcast.com and fan stats at GoXavier.com.

• Xavier is 9-1 in BIG EAST Conference home openers at Cintas Center with its only loss being to Seton Hall in the 2018-19 season. XU is 6-0 in conference openers under head coach Sean Miller, including 5-0 in the Atlantic 10 and last season’s win over Seton Hall.
• Xavier has 10 newcomers on the 2023-24 roster, including six freshmen. The six freshmen have logged 32.5 percent of the minutes played this season, the most for a Xavier team since the 1995-96 season with Lenny Brown, Gary Lumpkin and Darnell Williams.
• Xavier sophomore Desmond Claude is second on the team in scoring at 16.0 ppg. (ninth in the BIG EAST), second in assists (3.8 apg.) and third in rebounding (5.0 rpg.). Claude, the only Musketeer who has scored in double figures in every game, is coming off his first career double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds at St. John’s.
• Xavier graduate student Quincy Olivari is second in the BIG EAST in 3-point field goal percentage at 43.4 percent (33-76), including 6-8 vs. Cincinnati on Dec. 9. Olivari is third in the BIG EAST in 3-point field goals at 2.8 per game.
• Xavier’s Quincy Olivari has scored in double figures 11 times, including nine straight games. Olivari, who is fourth in the BIG EAST in scoring at 17.3 ppg., earned a spot on the BIG EAST Honor Roll for the second straight week on Dec. 18.
• Xavier senior Dayvion McKnight leads the BIG EAST Conference in assist-to-turnover
ratio at 3.33. He is fifth in the BIG EAST in assists at 5.0 per game.
• Xavier senior Abou Ousmane recorded his first Xavier double-double with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in the win over Cincinnati on Dec. 9.
• Xavier head coach Sean Miller has 153 wins in his seventh season leading Xavier (third on XU’s all-time wins list).  

COURTESY XAVIER ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS