# 2019–20 Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team represented Xavier University during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season as a member of the Big East Conference. Led by second-year head coach Travis Steele, they played their home games at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. They finished the season 19–13, 8–10 in Big East play to finish in a tie for sixth place. They lost in the first round of the Big East tournament to DePaul. Soon thereafter, all postseason tournaments were canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which effectively ended their season.

## Previous season

The Musketeers finished the 2018–19 season 19–16, 9–9 in Big East play to finish in third place. They defeated Creighton in the quarterfinals before losing to Villanova in the semifinals of the Big East tournament. The Musketeers failed to receive a bid to a postseason tournament.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Kyle Castlin | 2 | G | 6'4" | 193 | Graduate Student | Marietta, GA | Graduated |
| Elias Harden | 4 | G | 6'5" | 187 | Sophomore | East Point, GA | Transferred to Jacksonville State |
| Keonte Kennedy | 11 | G | 6'5" | 187 | Freshman | Aurora, CO | Transferred to UTEP |
| Ryan Welage | 32 | F | 6'10" | 205 | Graduate Student | Greensburg, IN | Graduated |
| Zach Hankins | 35 | F | 6'11" | 245 | Graduate Student | Charlevoix, MI | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Bryce Moore | 11 | G | 6'3" | 180 | Graduate Student | Indianapolis, IN | Transferred from Western Michigan after graduating. Will have one year of eligibility beginning immediately. |
| Jason Carter | 25 | F | 6'8" | 227 | RS Junior | Johnstown, OH | Transferred from Ohio after graduating. Will have two years of eligibility beginning immediately. |

### 2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| KyKy Tandy CG | Hopkinsville, KY | University Heights Academy | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Oct 28, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 84 ||||||
| Dahmir Bishop SG | Philadelphia, PA | Imhotep Institute | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Sep 14, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 82 ||||||
| Zach Freemantle C | Teaneck, NJ | Bergen Catholic HS | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Aug 21, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 81 ||||||
| Daniel Ramsey PF | Norcross, GA | Norcross HS | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Aug 6, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 81 ||||||
| Dieonte Miles C | Walton, KY | Walton-Verona HS | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Aug 25, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 81 ||||||
| 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: "2019 Xavier Signees". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 31, 2019. "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 31, 2019. ||||||

## Roster

* Jan 2, 2020 - Dahmir Bishop entered the transfer portal. Bishop would ultimately transfer to Saint Joseph's.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 30, 2019* 7:00 pm | No. 19 | Indianapolis | W 64–52 | – | 16 – Goodin | 13 – Marshall | 5 – Goodin | Cintas Center (9,663) Cincinnati, OH |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 5, 2019* 7:00 pm, FS2 | No. 19 | Jacksonville | W 76–57 | 1–0 | 17 – Tied | 11 – Jones | 4 – Marshall | Cintas Center (10,050) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 8, 2019* 7:00 pm, FSN | No. 19 | Siena | W 81–63 | 2–0 | 20 – Tied | 8 – Marshall | 7 – Marshall | Cintas Center (10,430) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 12, 2019* 7:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 21 | Missouri | W 63–58 $^{OT}$ | 3–0 | 17 – Marshall | 10 – Carter | 3 – Marshall | Cintas Center (10,224) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 15, 2019* 7:00 pm, FSN | No. 21 | Missouri State Charleston Classic campus game | W 59–56 | 4–0 | 15 – Jones | 6 – Jones | 6 – Goodin | Cintas Center (10,463) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 21, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 18 | vs. Towson Charleston Classic quarterfinals | W 73–51 | 5–0 | 13 – Carter | 12 – Jones | 5 – Tied | TD Arena Charleston, SC |
| November 22, 2019* 9:30 pm, ESPNU | No. 18 | vs. UConn Charleston Classic semifinal | W 75–74 $^{2OT}$ | 6–0 | 21 – Marshall | 11 – Jones | 4 – Goodin | TD Arena (4,416) Charleston, SC |
| November 24, 2019* 8:30 pm, ESPN | No. 18 | vs. Florida Charleston Classic championship game | L 65–70 | 6–1 | 24 – Scruggs | 7 – Jones | 4 – Tied | TD Arena (4,233) Charleston, SC |
| November 30, 2019* 12:00 pm, FSN | No. 25 | Lipscomb | W 87–62 | 7–1 | 15 – Tied | 10 – Jones | 6 – Scruggs | Cintas Center (9,960) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 4, 2019* 7:00 pm, FS2 | | Green Bay | W 84–71 | 8–1 | 24 – Marshall | 14 – Jones | 3 – Tied | Cintas Center (10,129) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 7, 2019* 5:00 pm, FS1 | | Cincinnati Crosstown Shootout | W 73–66 | 9–1 | 31 – Marshall | 9 – Jones | 8 – Goodin | Cintas Center (10,811) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 14, 2019* 4:00 pm, ACCN | No. 23 | at Wake Forest Skip Prosser Classic | L 78–80 | 9–2 | 30 – Scruggs | 11 – Jones | 5 – Goodin | LJVM Coliseum (5,847) Winston-Salem, NC |
| December 18, 2019* 6:30 pm, FS1 | | Western Carolina | W 74–61 | 10–2 | 25 – Goodin | 11 – Jones | 6 – Jones | Cintas Center (9,907) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 22, 2019* 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at TCU Big East/Big 12 Battle | W 67–59 | 11–2 | 18 – Jones | 14 – Jones | 11 – Goodin | Schollmaier Arena (6,445) Fort Worth, TX |
| Big East regular season |||||||||
| December 30, 2019 6:30 pm, FS1 | | at No. 10 Villanova | L 62–68 | 11–3 (0–1) | 19 – Marshall | 10 – Jones | 6 – Scruggs | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| January 5, 2020 4:30 pm, FOX | | St. John's | W 75–67 | 12–3 (1–1) | 20 – Marshall | 12 – Jones | 5 – Goodin | Cintas Center (10,254) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 8, 2020 8:30 pm, FS1 | | Seton Hall | L 71–83 | 12–4 (1–2) | 18 – Jones | 9 – Jones | 7 – Goodin | Cintas Center (9,832) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 11, 2020 2:00 pm, FOX | | Creighton | L 65–77 | 12–5 (1–3) | 21 – Marshall | 9 – Tied | 7 – Marshall | Cintas Center (10,529) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 15, 2020 8:00 pm, FSN | | at Marquette | L 65–85 | 12–6 (1–4) | 16 – Jones | 7 – Marshall | 5 – Scruggs | Fiserv Forum (13,761) Milwaukee, WI |
| January 22, 2020 6:30 pm, FS1 | | Georgetown | W 66–57 | 13–6 (2–4) | 18 – Tied | 13 – Jones | 5 – Tied | Cintas Center (10,387) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 26, 2020 4:00 pm, FS1 | | at Creighton | L 66–77 | 13–7 (2–5) | 18 – Freemantle | 13 – Jones | 6 – Scruggs | CHI Health Center Omaha (17,796) Omaha, NE |
| January 29, 2020 8:30 pm, FS1 | | Marquette | L 82–84 $^{2OT}$ | 13–8 (2–6) | 19 – Goodin | 15 – Jones | 5 – Marshall | Cintas Center (10,224) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 1, 2020 11:00 am, FOX | | at No. 10 Seton Hall | W 74–62 | 14–8 (3–6) | 19 – Tied | 18 – Jones | 14 – Marshall | Prudential Center (12,230) Newark, NJ |
| February 4, 2020 9:00 pm, FS1 | | at DePaul | W 67–59 | 15–8 (4–6) | 13 – Scruggs | 18 – Jones | 4 – Marshall | Wintrust Arena (4,526) Chicago, IL |
| February 8, 2020 8:00 pm, FS1 | | Providence | W 64–58 | 16–8 (5–6) | 14 – Jones | 18 – Jones | 5 – Scruggs | Cintas Center (10,575) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 12, 2020 6:30 pm, CBSSN | | at No. 19 Butler | L 61–66 | 16–9 (5–7) | 20 – Marshall | 10 – Jones | 7 – Marshall | Hinkle Fieldhouse (8,878) Indianapolis, IN |
| February 17, 2020 6:30 pm, FS1 | | at St. John’s | W 77–74 | 17–9 (6–7) | 16 – Scruggs | 11 – Marshall | 5 – Marshall | Madison Square Garden (14,765) New York, NY |
| February 22, 2020 2:30 pm, FOX | | No. 12 Villanova | L 55–64 | 17–10 (6–8) | 17 – Jones | 14 – Jones | 5 – Scruggs | Cintas Center (10,647) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 25, 2020 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | DePaul | W 78–67 | 18–10 (7–8) | 23 – Marshall | 6 – Tied | 6 – Tied | Cintas Center (10,224) Cincinnati, OH |
| March 1, 2020 2:00 pm, CBS | | at Georgetown | W 66–63 | 19–10 (8–8) | 20 – Marshall | 13 – Jones | 5 – Marshall | Capital One Arena (10,610) Washington, DC |
| March 4, 2020 6:30 pm, FS1 | | at Providence | L 74–80 | 19–11 (8–9) | 25 – Marshall | 9 – Jones | 4 – Goodin | Dunkin' Donuts Center (11,736) Providence, RI |
| March 7, 2020 8:30 pm, FS1 | | Butler | L 71–72 | 19–12 (8–10) | 21 – Marshall | 13 – Jones | 5 – Marshall | Cintas Center Cincinnati, OH |
| Big East tournament |||||||||
| March 11, 2020 9:30 pm, FS1 | (7) | vs. (10) DePaul First round | L 67–71 | 19–13 | – | – | – | Madison Square Garden New York City, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | 19 | 21 | 18 | 25 | RV | 23 | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | | Not released |
| Coaches | 21 | 21* | 21 | 23 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | | |