# 2005–06 Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team

The 2005–06 Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team represented Xavier University in the 2005–06 college basketball season. They were led by head coach Sean Miller in his second season at Xavier. The Musketeers were members of the Atlantic 10 Conference and played their home games at the Cintas Center. Xavier finished the season with a record of 21–11, 8–8 in A-10 play to finish seventh in the regular season standings. The Musketeers won four games in four days to capture the A-10 tournament title and secure the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Playing as the No. 14 seed in the Oakland region, Xavier lost to No. 3 seed Gonzaga, 79–75, in the opening round.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 5, 2005* | | Northern Kentucky | W 78–44 | | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Nov 12, 2005* | | Tusculum | W 76–57 | | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 19, 2005* 7:00 p.m. | | Eastern Illinois | W 80–35 | 1–0 | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Nov 26, 2005* 4:30 p.m. | | vs. Purdue | W 74–55 | 2–0 | Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Nov 29, 2005* 7:30 p.m. | | Coppin State | W 81–56 | 3–0 | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Dec 3, 2005* 2:00 p.m., ESPN Plus | | vs. No. 12 Illinois | L 62–65 | 3–1 | United Center (19,833) Chicago, Illinois |
| Dec 7, 2005* 7:30 p.m. | | Florida A&M | W 79–51 | 4–1 | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Dec 11, 2005* 2:00 p.m. | | at Miami (OH) | W 75–65 | 5–1 | Millett Hall Oxford, Ohio |
| Dec 18, 2005* 8:00 p.m. | | at Creighton | L 59–61 | 5–2 | Qwest Center Omaha Omaha, Nebraska |
| Dec 22, 2005* 7:30 p.m. | | Troy | W 78–54 | 6–2 | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Dec 29, 2005* 7:30 p.m. | | Southern | W 73–56 | 7–2 | Cintas Center (10,250) Cincinnati, Ohio |
| A-10 regular season ||||||
| Jan 4, 2006 6:00 p.m. | | at Saint Joseph's | W 62–58 | 8–2 (1–0) | Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 7, 2006 4:00 p.m. | | St. Bonaventure | W 99–71 | 9–2 (2–0) | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Jan 9, 2006* 7:30 p.m. | | Eastern Kentucky | W 82–63 | 10–2 | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Jan 14, 2006 7:00 p.m. | | at Charlotte | W 78–65 | 11–2 (3–0) | Dale F. Halton Arena Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Jan 19, 2006* 9:00 p.m. | | Cincinnati Crosstown Shootout | W 73–71 $^{OT}$ | 12–2 | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Jan 22, 2006 7:00 p.m. | | Saint Louis | L 54–59 | 12–3 (3–1) | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Jan 25, 2006 7:00 p.m. | | at Temple | L 79–81 | 12–4 (3–2) | Liacouras Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 28, 2006 12:00 p.m., A-10 TV | | Dayton Blackburn/McCafferty Trophy | W 60–55 | 13–4 (4–2) | Cintas Center (10,250) Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Feb 2, 2006 7:00 p.m. | | No. 14 George Washington | L 85–89 | 13–5 (4–3) | Cintas Center (10,250) Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Feb 5, 2006 2:00 p.m. | | at Saint Louis | L 47–61 | 13–6 (4–4) | Savvis Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| Feb 8, 2006 7:30 p.m. | | at Richmond | W 63–51 | 14–6 (5–4) | Robins Center Richmond, Virginia |
| Feb 11, 2006 12:00 p.m. | | La Salle | L 70–79 | 14–7 (5–5) | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Feb 15, 2006 7:30 p.m. | | Fordham | W 84–64 | 15–7 (6–5) | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Feb 18, 2006 12:00 p.m. | | Duquesne | W 91–70 | 16–7 (7–5) | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Feb 21, 2006 7:30 p.m., ESPN2 | | at Dayton Blackburn/McCafferty Trophy | L 62–66 | 16–8 (7–6) | UD Arena (13,092) Dayton, Ohio |
| Feb 25, 2006 7:00 p.m. | | at Rhode Island | W 85–76 | 17–8 (8–6) | Ryan Center Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Feb 28, 2006 7:30 p.m. | | Saint Joseph's | L 58–68 | 17–9 (8–7) | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Mar 4, 2006 4:00 p.m. | | at UMass | L 56–65 | 17–10 (8–8) | Mullins Center Amherst, Massachusetts |
| A-10 tournament ||||||
| Mar 8, 2006* 6:30 p.m. | (10) | (7) UMass First round | W 75–66 | 18–10 | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Mar 9, 2006* 6:30 p.m. | (10) | (2) Charlotte Quarterfinals | W 59–55 | 19–10 | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Mar 10, 2006* 8:30 p.m. | (10) | (6) Fordham Semifinals | W 70–59 | 20–10 | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Mar 11, 2006* 6:05 p.m. | (10) | (5) Saint Joseph's Championship game | W 62–61 | 21–10 | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 16, 2006* 7:20 p.m., CBS | (14 OAK) | vs. (3 OAK) No. 5 Gonzaga First round | L 75–79 | 21–11 | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. OAK=Oakland. ||||||