Just one thing here: Xavier Basketball

With only 7 scholarship players available, the Muskies went crazy in their regular season debut, pouring on the offense and beating Fairleigh Dickinson 117-75! All 7 scholarship players scored in double figures. 

Highlights:
- Dee Davis had an unreal first half, 14 pts and 12 asts, and finished with 22 pts and 15 asts. 
- Travis Taylor almost had a double-double in the first half as well and finished with 20 pts and 12 rebs.
- Brad Redford was 6 for 7 shooting, all 3-pointers, and had a 4 point play, totaling 19 points on the night in just 17 minutes.
- The Muskies shot 70.5% and scored 117 points, a new Cintas Center record!
- XU out-rebounded FDU an unbelievable 41 to 8! Yes, 41 to 8.
- Xavier did all this and still gave the 4 walk-ons a total of 30 minutes of time on the court. Redford and Stenger played limited minutes due to cramping. And remember Semaj Christon didn't even play due to injury. This game could've been a lot worse, believe it or not!

The competition gets much better in game 2 of the regular season. Xavier hosts Butler at 4pm on Tuesday as part of the ESPN College Basketball Marathon.

Go Muskies!

Well, we thought we'd be short-handed coming into the season. But in the final weeks before and the morning of the season-opener, that is an understatement. 
- Isaiah Philmore must sit out the first 3 games for a NCAA infraction from a summer league form not signed 3 years ago.
- Chris Cantino has still not been deemed eligible/ineligible by the NCAA and will not suit up tonight (or possibly all year).
- Brad Redford has been day-to-day with a hamstring injury. The good news is that it sounds like he will play tonight.
- The biggest loss is Semaj Christon. Last night news broke that he was injured in practice and will not play tonight.

Assuming Redford will play, we have 7 scholarship players able to play tonight:
Guards - Redford, Davis
Forwards - Robinson, Taylor, Martin, Farr, Stenger

We also have 4 walk-ons, some of which may get some minutes if there are any injuries or foul trouble. Expect Martin to play some minutes at guard as Redford and Davis will not play 40 minutes each. Let's see if former walk-on Erik Stenger (Stengray!) will start and get solid minutes after a great showing last week and being given a scholarship by Coach Mack.

Our opponent, Farleigh Dickinson, has a farleigh limited roster as well (sorry, couldn't resist). Their leading scorer from last season has been suspended and 4 other players did not make the trip for disciplinary issues. So FDU is bringing 7 scholarship players and 2 walk-ons.

I'm disappointed that the Muskies aren't at full strength to gear up for the big game Tuesday vs. Butler but the priority now is to just win this game. We are very thin at virtually all positions tonight so hopefully the guys we do have can step it up and deliver a victory to start the season. 

Go Muskies!

Well, I guess those of us questioning Xavier's decision to expel Wells wasn't that extreme, was it? He has been fully cleared to play immediately for Maryland this season.

Nothing has been released on why or how the NCAA came to this decision but they make all kinds of random, inconsistent decisions anyway so who knows.

Good for Wells now and good luck with Maryland this year.

Chris Mack and the Muskies picked up a verbal commitment from a 3-start small forward today. Kamall Richards is 6'5", 195 lb and currently plays high school ball in South Kent, Connecticut.

He would join Jalen Reynolds and Myles Davis as newcomers next fall. Transfer Matt Stainbrook will also be eligible to play next fall.

Kamall has also mentioned that he is trying to get fellow teammate and a 3-star point guard, Shane Rector, to join him at Xavier next fall.

GO Muskies! The season tips off Friday night!

It was certainly not the most impressive win but there were some good signs from the Muskies in their exhibition Saturday. XU won 74-53 using only 8 players (other than the last minute of the game). Redford's hamstring was not 100% after tweaking it last week. He did not play Saturday but should be good to go to start the season.

Starting Five: Dee Davis, Semaj Christon, Erik Stenger, Jeff Robinson, Travis Taylor
 
Some takeaways from last night's game: 
The Good:
- We survived a game with only 2 guards and 8 players in the rotation. With Redford out, Davis and Christon played 34 and 33 minutes, respectively and they both played well. Still no NCAA decision on Cantino so the front court played without him and out-played the opposition in the paint, albeit a Division II school.
- Stengray! Erik Stenger, transfer from NKU, who is technically a walk-on, lit it up last night! The 6'8" Cincy native got the start and had 12 pts, 9 rebs, 4 blocks, and 3 steals in just 23 minutes on the court. It was great to see this kid hustling and going all out at both ends of the court. I think we all thought he'd get some minutes this year but maybe that will be an understatement.
- 5 Muskies scored in double-figures, Stenger/Robinson/Christon with 12 each and Taylor/Martin with 10 each. A balancing scoring attack would certainly be beneficial this season.

The Not So Good:
- The Muskies did out-muscle Kentucky State in the paint (46 to 12) but new-comers Isaiah Philmore and James Farr were not impressive, combining to shoot 2 for 9 from the field and 3 for 6 from the line. We will certainly need more out of these guys this year.
- Foul Trouble - last year several guys had issues with repeatedly getting in foul trouble. Mack has said that this is something the guys would look to improve over the summer but last night was not a good sign. Philmore fouled out in only 22 minutes and Taylor had 3 fouls in his first 12 minutes of play.
- 3-point shooting - The Muskies went a horrendous 1-16 from 3-point land. I don't know if Mack gave the Freshman power forward James Farr the green light to shoot 3s but he chucked up 3 bricks. Davis was 0 for 5 and Christon 0 for 3.

Overall, the guys played pretty well as a team but the competition was not great. Looking forward to the official start to the season Friday night.

Go Muskies!