2018–19 Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team represented Xavier University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season as a member of the Big East Conference. Led by first-year head coach Travis Steele, they played their home games at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Xavier finished the season 19–16, 9–9 in Big East play to finish in third place.[1] In the Big East tournament, Xavier beat Creighton in the quarterfinals before losing to Villanova in the semifinals. The Musketeers failed to receive a bid to the NCAA tournament, but received an at-large bid to the National Invitation Tournament.[2] There they defeated Toledo in the first round[3] before losing in overtime to Texas in the second round.[4]

2018–19 Xavier Musketeers men's basketball
NIT, Second Round
ConferenceBig East Conference
Record19–16 (9–9 Big East)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Jonas Hayes (1st season)
  • Ben Johnson (1st season)
  • Dante Jackson (1st season)
Home arenaCintas Center
Seasons
2018–19 Big East men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 23 Villanova 13 5   .722 26 10   .722
Marquette 12 6   .667 24 10   .706
Seton Hall 9 9   .500 20 14   .588
Xavier 9 9   .500 19 16   .543
Creighton 9 9   .500 20 15   .571
Georgetown 9 9   .500 19 14   .576
St. John's 8 10   .444 21 13   .618
Providence 7 11   .389 18 16   .529
Butler 7 11   .389 16 17   .485
DePaul 7 11   .389 19 17   .528
2019 Big East tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

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The Musketeers finished the 2017–18 season 29–6, 15–3 in Big East play to win the Big East championship. In the Big East tournament, they defeated St. John's[5] before losing to Providence in the semifinals.[6] They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed in the West region. In the First Round, they defeated Texas Southern[7] before being upset by Florida State in the Second Round.[8]

On March 27, 2018, Chris Mack was hired as the new head coach of Louisville, leaving Xavier after nine seasons.[9] Four days later, longtime assistant coach Travis Steele was named the new head coach of the Musketeers.[10]

Offseason

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Departures

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason left
Trevon Bluiett 5 Guard 6'6" 198 Senior Indianapolis, IN Graduated
Kerem Kanter 11 Forward 6'10" 240 Graduate student Istanbul, Turkey Completed athletic eligibility; graduated from Green Bay in 2017
Matt Singleton 20 Forward 6'7" 215 Senior Garrett, IN Graduated
Kaiser Gates 22 Forward 6'7" 205 Junior Alpharetta, GA Declared for the 2018 NBA draft
Sean O'Mara 54 Forward-center 6'10" 244 Senior Glen Ellyn, IL Graduated
J. P. Macura 55 Guard 6'5" 203 Senior Lakeville, MN Graduated

Incoming transfers

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Kyle Castlin[11] 2 Guard 6'4" 190 Graduate Student Marietta, Georgia Transferred from Columbia after graduating. Will have one year of eligibility beginning immediately.[12]
Zach Hankins 35 Center 6'10" 245 Graduate Student Charlevoix, Michigan Transferred from Ferris State after graduating. Will have one year of eligibility beginning immediately.[13]
Ryan Welage[14] 32 Forward 6'9" 205 Graduate Student Greensburg, Indiana Transferred from San Jose State after graduating. Will have one year of eligibility beginning immediately.[15]
Myles Hanson 34 Guard 6'7" 215 Sophomore Chaska, Minnesota Transferred from Columbia. Under NCAA transfer rules, Hanson will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. Will join team as a walk-on.[16]

Recruiting classes

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2018 recruiting class

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US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Keonte Kennedy
SG
Austin, TX Westlake High School 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Oct 3, 2017 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN: 
Dontarius James
SF
Kershaw, SC Andrew Jackson High School 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Nov 12, 2017 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: 
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2018 Xavier Commits". Rivals.com.
  • "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Honors and awards

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Street & Smith's Preseason Awards[17]

  • All-Newcomer - Ryan Welage
  • All-Sharpshooter - Ryan Welage

Roster

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2018–19 Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
F 0 Tyrique Jones 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Jr Vermont Academy Bloomfield, Connecticut
G 1 Paul Scruggs 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Prolific Prep Indianapolis, Indiana
G 2 Kyle Castlin 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 193 lb (88 kg) GS Columbia Marietta, Georgia
G 3 Quentin Goodin 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 194 lb (88 kg) Jr Taylor County HS Campbellsville, Kentucky
G 4 Elias Harden 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 187 lb (85 kg) So Pebblebrook HS East Point, Georgia
G 10 Leighton Schrand 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 155 lb (70 kg) Jr Holy Cross HS Villa Hills, Kentucky
G 11 Keonte Kennedy 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 187 lb (85 kg) Fr Westlake HS Aurora, Colorado
F 12 Dontarius James 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Huntington Prep Kershaw, South Carolina
F 13 Naji Marshall 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 222 lb (101 kg) So Hargrave Military Academy Atlantic City, New Jersey
G 20 Ramon Singh 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr La Lumiere School Sydney, Australia
F 32 Ryan Welage 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 205 lb (93 kg) GS San Jose State Greensburg, Indiana
G/F 34 Myles Hanson (W)   6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Columbia Chaska, Minnesota
F 35 Zach Hankins 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) GS Ferris State Charlevoix, Michigan
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
November 1, 2018*
7:00 pm
Kentucky Wesleyan W 98–69 
 22  Tied   7  Tied   5  Welage  Cintas Center (10,073)
Cincinnati, OH
Non-conference regular season
November 6, 2018*
8:30 pm, FS2
IUPUI W 82–69  1–0
 24  Welage   8  Castlin   7  Marshall  Cintas Center (10,224)
Cincinnati, OH
November 10, 2018*
4:00 pm, FSN
Evansville
Maui on the Mainland
W 91–85  2–0
 24  Scruggs   20  Jones   5  Scruggs  Cintas Center (10,533)
Cincinnati, OH
November 13, 2018*
6:30 pm, FS1
Wisconsin
Gavitt Tipoff Games
L 68–77  2–1
 24  Marshall   13  Marshall   5  Goodin  Cintas Center (10,312)
Cincinnati, OH
November 19, 2018*
2:30 pm, ESPN2
vs. No. 8 Auburn
Maui Invitational tournament quarterfinals
L 79–88 OT 2–2
 17  Welage   9  Jones   6  Goodin  Lahaina Civic Center (2,400)
Lahaina, HI
November 20, 2018*
2:30 pm, ESPN2
vs. San Diego State
Maui Invitational Tournament consolation 2nd round
L 74–79  2–3
 20  Goodin   6  Scruggs   5  Marshall  Lahaina Civic Center (2,400)
Lahaina, HI
November 21, 2018*
9:00 pm, ESPNU
vs. Illinois
Maui Invitational Tournament 7th place game
W 83–74  3–3
 15  Goodin   9  Jones   5  Marshall  Lahaina Civic Center (2,400)
Lahaina, HI
November 28, 2018*
6:30 pm, FS1
Miami (OH) W 82–55  4–3
 17  Marshall   13  Jones   8  Goodin  Cintas Center (10,394)
Cincinnati, OH
December 1, 2018*
12:00 pm, FS1
Oakland W 73–63  5–3
 14  Marshall   11  Jones   4  Scruggs  Cintas Center (10,331)
Cincinnati, OH
December 5, 2018*
6:30 pm, FS1
Ohio W 82–61  6–3
 21  Scruggs   7  Marshall   8  Scruggs  Cintas Center (10,405)
Cincinnati, OH
December 8, 2018*
2:00 pm, ESPN2
at Cincinnati
Crosstown Shootout
L 47–62  6–4
 12  Goodin   7  Tied   5  Goodin  Fifth Third Arena (12,513)
Cincinnati, OH
December 15, 2018*
8:00 pm, FS1
Eastern Kentucky W 95–77  7–4
 16  Goodin   10  Marshall   10  Goodin  Cintas Center (10,112)
Cincinnati, OH
December 18, 2018*
7:00 pm, ESPNU
at Missouri L 56–71  7–5
 21  Goodin   11  Marshall   6  Goodin  Mizzou Arena (9,785)
Columbia, MO
December 21, 2018*
7:00 pm, FS2
Detroit Mercy W 69–55  8–5
 22  Goodin   11  Hankins   9  Goodin  Cintas Center (10,224)
Cincinnati, OH
Big East regular season
December 29, 2018
2:00 pm, FS1
at DePaul W 74–65  9–5
(1–0)
 19  Marshall   14  Marshall   8  Goodin  Wintrust Arena (5,632)
Chicago, IL
January 2, 2019
6:30 pm, FS1
Seton Hall L 70–80  9–6
(1–1)
 22  Scruggs   7  Marshall   6  Goodin  Cintas Center (10,224)
Cincinnati, OH
January 6, 2019
12:00 pm, FOX
at No. 16 Marquette L 52–70  9–7
(1–2)
 21  Marshall   10  Scruggs   2  Goodin  Fiserv Forum (17,309)
Milwaukee, WI
January 9, 2019
6:30 pm, FS1
Georgetown W 81–75  10–7
(2–2)
 23  Hankins   10  Tied   4  Scruggs  Cintas Center (10,224)
Cincinnati, OH
January 13, 2019
12:00 pm, CBSSN
Butler W 70–69  11–7
(3–2)
 23  Scruggs   8  Scruggs   6  Scruggs  Cintas Center (10,144)
Cincinnati, OH
January 18, 2019
8:30 pm, FS1
at No. 22 Villanova L 75–85  11–8
(3–3)
 21  Jones   12  Jones   7  Marshall  Wells Fargo Center (12,103)
Philadelphia, PA
January 23, 2019
6:30 pm, FS1
Providence L 62–64  11–9
(3–4)
 14  Scruggs   10  Castlin   4  Tied  Cintas Center (10,142)
Cincinnati, OH
January 26, 2019
2:00 pm, FS1
No. 12 Marquette L 82–87  11–10
(3–5)
 21  Tied   11  Jones   5  Scruggs  Cintas Center (10,547)
Cincinnati, OH
January 31, 2019
8:00 pm, CBSSN
at Georgetown L 73–80  11–11
(3–6)
 16  Marshall   7  Scruggs   4  Goodin  Capital One Arena (7,636)
Washington, DC
February 3, 2019
1:00 pm, FSN
at Creighton L 54–76  11–12
(3–7)
 13  Goodin   5  Scruggs   7  Goodin  CHI Health Center Omaha (16,678)
Omaha, NE
February 9, 2019
8:00 pm, FS1
DePaul L 62–74  11–13
(3–8)
 22  Marshall   9  Jones   4  Marshall  Cintas Center (10,242)
Cincinnati, OH
February 13, 2019
8:30 pm, CBSSN
Creighton W 64–61 OT 12–13
(4–8)
 23  Marshall   8  Scruggs   5  Marshall  Cintas Center (9,949)
Cincinnati, OH
February 16, 2019
2:00 pm, FOX
at Providence W 75–61  13–13
(5–8)
 19  Jones   12  Jones   7  Goodin  Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,410)
Providence, RI
February 20, 2019
7:00 pm, CBSSN
at Seton Hall W 70–69  14–13
(6–8)
 28  Marshall   15  Jones   5  Marshall  Prudential Center (7,916)
Newark, NJ
February 24, 2019
1:30 pm, CBS
No. 17 Villanova W 66–54  15–13
(7–8)
 17  Marshall   8  Jones   4  Tied  Cintas Center (10,444)
Cincinnati, OH
February 28, 2019
6:30 pm, FS1
at St. John's W 84–73  16–13
(8–8)
 31  Marshall   10  Jones   4  Jones  Carnesecca Arena (5,602)
Queens, NY
March 5, 2019
6:00 pm, FS1
at Butler L 66–71  16–14
(8–9)
 13  Tied   9  Hankins   4  Goodin  Hinkle Fieldhouse 
Indianapolis, IN
March 9, 2019
5:00 pm, FOX
St. John's W 81–68  17–14
(9–9)
 22  Scruggs   7  Tied   7  Goodin  Cintas Center (10,391)
Cincinnati, OH
Big East tournament
March 14, 2019
2:30 pm, FS1
(4) vs. (5) Creighton
Quarterfinals
W 63–61  18–14
 22  Hankins   9  Hankins   4  Goodin  Madison Square Garden (19,534)
New York, NY
March 15, 2019
6:30 pm, FS1
(4) vs. (1) No. 25 Villanova
Semifinals
L 67–71 OT 18–15
 28  Scruggs   11  Scruggs   8  Goodin  Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
NIT
March 20, 2019*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
(3) (6) Toledo
First Round – Alabama Bracket
W 78–64  19–15
 20  Marshall   21  Marshall   6  Marshall  Cintas Center (5,769)
Cincinnati, OH
March 24, 2019*
4:00 pm, ESPN
(3) at (2) Texas
Second Round – Alabama Bracket
L 76–78 OT 19–16
 22  Jones   11  Jones   5  Goodin  Frank Erwin Center (3,204)
Austin, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

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Ranking movements
Legend: — = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415161718Final
APRVNot released
Coaches

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings

References

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  1. ^ "2018-19 Xavier Musketeers Roster and Stats". Retrieved March 23, 2019.
  2. ^ Baum, Adam. "March Madness 2019: Xavier Musketeers basketball miss NCAA Tournament, Big East gets 4 in". Retrieved March 23, 2019.
  3. ^ "Toledo vs. Xavier - Game Recap - March 20, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  4. ^ "Xavier vs. Texas - Game Recap - March 24, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  5. ^ "St. John's vs. Xavier - Game Recap - March 8, 2018 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  6. ^ "Providence vs. Xavier - Game Recap - March 9, 2018 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  7. ^ "Texas Southern vs. Xavier - Game Recap - March 16, 2018 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  8. ^ "Florida State vs. Xavier - Game Recap - March 18, 2018 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  9. ^ Greer, Jeff (March 27, 2018). "Louisville hires Chris Mack as new men's basketball coach". Courier Journal. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  10. ^ Borzello, Jeff (March 31, 2018). "Musketeers promote longtime assistant Travis Steele to head coach". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  11. ^ "Kyle Castlin commits to Xavier: Ohio State basketball misses out on transfer target". Land of 10. April 8, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  12. ^ "Xavier brings in grad transfer Kyle Castlin". Banners On The Parkway. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  13. ^ Paul, Tony (April 7, 2018). "Ferris State's Hankins chooses Xavier over MSU, others". The Detroit News. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  14. ^ "Kyle Castlin commits to Xavier: Ohio State basketball misses out on transfer target". Land of 10. April 8, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  15. ^ "Xavier acquires record-setting SJSU Spartan grad transfer Ryan Welage". Mountain West Connection. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  16. ^ "Myles Hanson joins Xavier". Banners On The Parkway. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  17. ^ Street & Smith's Basketball. Vol. 2018–19. p. 29. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)