By Jeysla Gonzalez
GAME NOTES
https://goxavier.com/documents/2024/12/19/NOTESGame13MARQUETTE.pdf
Musketeers are taking on their third-straight AP Top 25 opponent
CINCINNATI — The Xavier University Musketeers, 8-4 overall and 0-1 in the BIG EAST Conference, host the No. 9 Marquette University Golden Eagles, 10-2 overall and 1-0 in the BIG EAST, on Saturday at noon for Xavier’s BIG EAST home opener at Cintas Center. XU is playing its third-straight team ranked in the AP Top 25.
Following Saturday’s game, Xavier will be off until Tuesday, Dec. 31 when it hosts Seton Hall at 2 p.m. in the final game of calendar year 2024.
BROADCAST AND LIVE STATS INFORMATION
TV/Stream: FOX, including FOX 19 in Cincinnati, with play-by-play from Brandon Gaudin and analysis from Robbie Hummel.
Xavier Radio: 700 WLW 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 available on the Varsity Network and on Sirius XM.
X FACTORS
• Xavier, 8-4 overall and 0-1 in the BIG EAST Conference, is coming off a 94-89 overtime loss at No. 11 UConn on Wednesday.
• Xavier is playing a third-straight game against an AP Top 25 teams for the first time since the 2017 NCAA Tournament (wins over #16 Florida State and #4 Arizona before a loss to #2 Gonzaga in a Regional Final). XU beat Maryland in its first-round game.
• Xavier junior newcomer Ryan Conwell, a preseason Third Team All-BIG EAST selection, leads the team in scoring at 17.0 ppg. (fourth in the BIG EAST), while leading the BIG EAST and ranking 12th in the nation at 3.5 3-point field goals made per game.
• Xavier’s Ryan Conwell has hit at least two 3-pointers in all 12 games, which is the longest streak of games with at least two treys in his career and the longest by any Xavier player ever.
• Xavier graduate student Dayvion McKnight, a preseason Second Team All-BIG EAST selection, scored 16 of his 18 points at UConn in the second half and overtime. McKnight leads XU in assists at 4.6 apg. (eighth in the BIG EAST), including a season-high nine assists at Cincinnati. He is second in the BIG EAST and 35th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.06.
• Xavier graduate student Dante Maddox Jr. set Xavier career highs for points (22), 3-pointers (5) and minutes played (35) at UConn on Wednesday.
• Xavier sophomore Dailyn Swain leads XU and is sixth in the BIG EAST in steals at 1.8 spg. and leads XU and is sixth in the BIG EAST in field goal percentage at 59.0 percent.
• Xavier graduate student Zach Freemantle, preseason Second Team All-BIG EAST, is out indefinitely with a lower body injury. He was leading the team in scoring (16.9 ppg.) and rebounding (7.7 rpg.) at the time of his injury, while leading the BIG EAST in defensive rebounding at 6.0 drpg.
