Xavier Musketeers prepare for charity exhibition contest against Dayton Flyers at UD Arena

After a number of months of labor comparatively out of the general public eye, the Xavier males’s basketball will take heart stage with a number of occasions lined up over the subsequent 5 days.

Cintas Heart will host Musketeer Insanity on Friday evening within the first alternative for followers to see Sean Miller’s 2024-25 squad. Earlier than Miller and some gamers be part of him in Manhattan for Massive East Media Day at Madison Sq. Backyard, Xavier will reunite with previous convention foe Dayton in a charity exhibition contest Sunday at UD Enviornment.

Xavier and Dayton will play within the CareSource Charity Basic, an occasion began by Flyers head coach Anthony Grant. Sunday’s tilt will cap the second yr of group engagement occasions championing adolescent and younger grownup psychological well being and suicide prevention.

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Xavier vs. Dayton historical past

Over 104 years in the past, the Xavier-Dayton rivalry started. Dayton, which was referred to as St. Mary’s Faculty then, beat Xavier 24-18 behind six subject targets from Max Matusoff, a Stivers graduate who later grew to become a profitable New York Metropolis funding banker and an novice golf champion at Oakwood Nation Membership in Cleveland.

Loads of different gamers have etched their names within the rivalry’s lore, a sequence that Dayton holds an 85-76 benefit in.

For the reason that 1987-88 season, Xavier gained 43 of its 60 matchups towards Dayton. The final regular-season assembly between the 2 applications separated by lower than 50 miles was a neutral-site Musketeers’ win within the AdvoCare Invitational Championship sport in Orlando in November 2015. The 2 colleges had been rivals within the Atlantic 10 till Xavier bolted for the Massive East in 2013.

What they’re saying about Xavier, Dayton

Dayton is coming off its 18th consecutive successful season and first NCAA Event berth since 2017. In fact, Dayton possible would’ve been a No. 1 March Insanity seed in 2020 earlier than the match was canceled because of the pandemic. As a No. 7 seed final March, Dayton rallied to beat Nevada within the first spherical earlier than falling to Arizona within the Spherical of 32.

Xavier suffered its first shedding season (16-18) in almost 30 years and had its season finish with a first-round loss within the NIT.

Per ordinary, each applications have their collective sights set on March, although each had been unranked within the Related Press preseason prime 25 ballot. Xavier obtained 73 votes and landed simply outdoors a small quantity subsequent to its identify at No. 28.

Dayton didn’t obtain any votes within the AP ballot; nevertheless, the Flyers had been analytical darlings within the ever-popular KenPom.com preseason rankings. KenPom lists Dayton at No. 27 within the nation with a projected file of 23-6 (14-4 A-10). Xavier clocked in at No. 30 in KenPom with a projected 20-10 file (11-9 Massive East).

Why Sunday’s charity sport issues to Miller’s Xavier Musketeers

Xavier is a brand new group with a number of transfers through the portal, so any alternative to play a unique opponent is a pleasant litmus check early within the faculty basketball calendar.

Moreover, it will not harm the new-look Musketeers to unofficially begin the yr in a tricky atmosphere.

Dayton has an excellent home-court benefit at UD Enviornment behind the Flyer Trustworthy routinely packing the place with sellout crowds.

Anthony Grant is entering his eighth season as the head coach of the Flyers. — Anthony Grant is coming into his eighth season as the top coach of the Flyers.

For the primary time this season, Xavier will stroll into one other program’s residence as public enemy No. 1, which will likely be a pleasant check with street matchups towards 4 ranked preseason groups (UC, Creighton, Marquette, UConn) on the regular-season slate.

Miller also can use this chance to check out the Musketeers’ depth and tweak his lineup since Lassina Traore suffered a season-ending knee damage in follow Oct. 9. Traore would’ve possible cracked the beginning lineup. Now, Xavier will see what it has within the frontcourt with the return of Zach Freemantle and Jerome Hunter. They’ll check out completely different small-ball lineups, too, that includes sophomore Dailyn Swain and Furman switch Marcus Foster getting work within the put up.

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