By Ben Dickison, Back Page Editor

Before Tuesday’s basketball game against the Jackson State Tigers, Xavier Athletics honored veterans who have served as a part of Veteran Appreciation night. The skill and dedication of the veterans in the house was a perfect match for the Xavier men’s basketball team, who relied on their skill and drive from behind the three-point line to overpower the Jackson State Tigers.

Six Musketeers scored in double digits: sophomore forward Dailyn Swain (10 points), graduate student forward Zach Freemantle (21), junior guard Ryan Conwell (14), sophomore guard Trey Green (15), senior center John Hugley IV (11) and senior guard Dante Maddox (16).

“Ryan (Conwell) really got us started with two made threes right off the get go,” Head Coach Sean Miller said. “Marcus Foster with eight assists as a forward really helped us out tonight. Dayvion (McKnight) didn’t really have a rhythm to his game because he was in foul trouble, but still finished with six assists and one turnover.” 

McKnight, a senior guard, is averaging an assist to turnover ratio of 8.0 through Xavier’s first three games. The Musketeers are averaging the ninth most assists of any Division 1 team in the country at 22.7 assists per game,, which was bolstered by Tuesday’s 28 assist performance. 

One potential point of concern for Miller was the team’s defensive rebounding. The Musketeers out-rebounded the Tigers 46-35, but gave up 12 second chance points over the course of Tuesday’s game. Dailyn Swain led the Musketeers in rebounds with 10 on the way to his first career double-double. 

“They killed us in the second half rebounding. We quit blocking out and watched the ball. We’re still a team that needs to be able to learn how to play 40 minutes,” Miller said.

Tomorrow in Cintas, the Skip Prosser Classic will be revived. Xavier will host the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons for the first time in nearly eight years, where the Musketeers defeated Wake 69-65 in 2016. Wake Forest will enter this year’s matchup as the 28th ranked team in the country by the Associated Press. Here’s how the 29th ranked Musketeers can add a fourth win to their perfect home record against the Demon Deacons:

1. Everyone Take Ball Handling Lessons from McKnight

McKnight has an 8.0 assist to turnover ratio through the first three games of the season. His ball security and 75% mark on three point shooting earned him a spot on this week’s Big East Honor Roll. The Musketeers turned the rock over nine times against Texas Southern, eight times against IU Indy and 10 times against Jackson State. If current turnover leaders Dailyn Swain (4) and John Hugley IV (6) can limit their mishaps from the frontcourt, the Musketeers will be well-positioned for a victory.

2. Rebound the Damn Ball

Xavier and Texas Southern both pulled down 34 rebounds as respective teams in the season opener. In the second half of Tuesday night’s game, Jackson State gave up 11 offensive rebounds and 12 second chance points. Fremantle, graduate forward Jerome Hunter and Hugley IV are in trouble on Saturday if they are not able to block out against a familiar foe in Depaul transfer center Churchill Abass and former LSU and Gonzaga starter Efton Reid. Fortunately, Foster, during his time at Furman, competed against former Appalachian State standout Spillers. Like Spillers, Foster is known for his ability to overachieve on the glass as an undersized forward. Miller has touted Foster as a player “with an exceptional ability to rebound at 6’5’.’ That matchup on the wing should be physical, and the Musketeers will look to keep Foster out of foul trouble.

3. Run Trey Green off of Screens

The sophomore guard put up an impressive 15 points off of the bench on Tuesday. Half of those points came off of catch and shoot three point shots. Against a smaller and less athletic Jackson State team, Green was able to navigate his way into the paint three times using crafty dribble moves to make floaters and layups. Against  6’10” Abass and 7’ Reid, Green will be best served attacking from over top of the defense. Allowing bigger, stronger guards like McKnight and Conwell or double-team magnet Zach Freemantle to force defensive collapses while running sets for the shifty Green to lose his defender will lead to open shots for the point guard.

4. Play in front of a Raucous Arena

There’s a reason coach Miller opens all of his postgame press conferences following home games by thanking the Xavier faithful for filling up Cintas. Miller touted the X-treme Fans as the heartbeat of the arena  following the win over Jackson State. 

“We knew we could walk out there and be in a half-empty building, but it wasn’t. Our opponent took on our crowd and our team,” Miller said. 

In the past two seasons, Xavier has hosted primetime matchups against Indiana, West Virginia, Houston and, of course, the crosstown foe. Wake Forest, while many casual college basketball fans may be unaware, is a program with a proud history and rich tradition similar to the entities listed above. Among the alumni of their program are NBA legends Tim Duncan, Chris Paul and Muggsy Bouges. The Demon Deacons have been to six Elite Eights and one Final Four in their NCAA Tournament history and were projected as the third best team in the conference this season in the 2024 ACC Preseason Poll.

This game is worthy of a sellout crowd and will draw eyes from college basketball fans across the nation. Let’s give ’em hell, fellow Musketeers. The Demon Deacons have never won in Cintas Center; that won’t be changing on Saturday.