News

Men’s basketball faces St. Joseph’s tonight

Musketeers shooting for 14th straight victory overall and school record eighth straight road victory

03/04/03

The men’s basketball team looks to stay perfect on the road in Atlantic 10 games and break another school record tonight, Wednesday, March 5, as No. 11 Xavier goes up against St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. Tip-off is at 8:00 p.m. in St. Joseph’s Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse, where the Hawks have been undefeated this season. The Xavier men’s team has posted a 9-2 road record so far this season and has won 13 straight games, currently the third-longest active streak in the nation. The only other time that a Xavier team won seven straight road games was the 1987-88 season when the men’s basketball team won seven straight road games during its school record 15-game winning streak. The Atlantic10 rivalry between the Musketeers and the Hawks goes back to the 1995-96 season. Saint Joseph’s leads the series 14-9, winning the last meeting at the Alumni Fieldhouse (79-76) in 2001. Xavier came away with an 84-77 win over Saint Joseph’s at the Cintas Center in 2002. Both Xavier and Saint Joseph’s have locked up first-round byes for the upcoming Atlantic10 Tournament on March 13-15 at the University of Dayton Arena. Playing a big role in Xavier’s success is senior All-American forward David West, who is the only NCAA Division I player averaging more than 20 points, 10 rebounds and three assists per game. He scored 23 points against George Washington March 1 to push his career total to 2,017, making him the third player in XU history to reach the 2,000-point plateau. He passed Tyrone Hill (2,003 from 1986-90) and moved into second place behind all-time scoring leader Byron Larkin (2,696 from 1984-88). The Xavier-St. Joseph’s game is being televised on the Atlantic 10 Television Network which includes Fox Sports Net Ohio. It’s being broadcast on WKRC (550AM). The Xavier men’s team closes its regular season at the Cintas Center on Saturday, March 8, at noon against Temple.