# 2008–09 Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team

The 2008–09 Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team represented Xavier University in the 2008–09 college basketball season. They were led by head coach Sean Miller in his fifth and final 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 27–8, 12–4 in A-10 play to win the regular season championship. The Musketeers lost in the quarterfinals of the A-10 tournament to Saint Louis. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a #4 seed. The Musketeers defeated Portland State and Wisconsin to advance to the Sweet Sixteen before losing to Pittsburgh.

## Previous season

The Musketeers finished the 2007–08 season with a record of 30–7, 14–2 in conference play to win the regular season championship. Xavier lost to Saint Joseph's in the semifinals of the A-10 tournament. The Musketeers received an at-large bid as a #3 seed to the NCAA tournament where they advanced to the Elite Eight before losing to UCLA.

## Roster

2008–09 Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team :
| Name | Height | Position | Class | Summary |
| C. J. Anderson | 6'6" | G | Jr. | 10.7 Pts, 5.9 Reb, 1.5 Ast |
| Charles Bronson | 6'9" | F | Jr. | 2.1 Pts, 1.1 Reb, 0.1 Ast |
| Derrick Brown | 6'8" | F | So. | 10.9 Pts, 6.5 Reb, 1.7 Ast |
| Stanley Burrell | 6'3" | G | St. | 9.7 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 3.8 Ast |
| Stephen Duckett | 6'4" | G | Sr. | 0.3 Pts, 0.3 Reb, 0.0 Ast |
| Josh Duncan | 6'9" | F | Sr. | 12.4 Pts, 4.7 Reb, 1.3 Ast |
| Adrion Graves | 6'4: | G | So. | 1.9 Pts, 1.0 Reb, 0.6 Ast |
| Joe Hughes | 6'6" | F | Fr. | 0.4 Pts, 0.5 Reb, 0.3 Ast |
| Dante Jackson | 6'5" | G | Fr. | 2.4 Pts, 1.1 Reb, 0.6 Ast |
| Drew Lavender | 5'7" | G | Sr. | 10.8 Pts, 2.7 Reb, 4.5 Ast |
| Jason Love | 6'9" | F | So. | 6.0 Pts, 5.5 Reb, 0.5 Ast |
| B. J. Raymond | 6'6" | F | Jr. | 9.9 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 0.9 Ast |
| Source |||||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| 11/14/2008* | | IPFW | W 71–43 | 1–0 | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| 11/17/2008* | | Toledo | W 81–65 | 2–0 | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| 11/20/2008* | | vs. Missouri Puerto Rico Tip-Off quarterfinals | W 75–71 | 3–0 | Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| 11/21/2008* | | vs. Virginia Tech Puerto Rico Tip-Off semifinals | W 63–62 $^{OT}$ | 4–0 | Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| 11/23/2008* | | vs. No. 13 Memphis Puerto Rico Tip-Off Finals | W 63–58 | 5–0 | Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| 11/29/2008* | No. 16 | Miami (OH) | W 60–53 | 6–0 | Cintas Center Cincinnati, OH |
| 12/3/2008* | No. 14 | Auburn | W 81–74 | 7–0 | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| 12/10/2008* | No. 10 | Ohio | W 78–56 | 8–0 | Cintas Center Cincinnati, OH |
| 12/13/2008* | No. 10 | at Cincinnati | W 76–66 | 9–0 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, Ohio |
| 12/20/2008* CBS | No. 7 | vs. No. 6 Duke | L 64–82 | 9–1 | Izod Center East Rutherford, NJ |
| 12/23/2008* | No. 14 | Butler | L 65–74 | 9–2 | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| 12/31/2008* | No. 22 | Robert Morris | W 78–57 | 10–2 | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| 1/3/2009* | No. 22 | at Virginia | W 84–70 | 11–2 | John Paul Jones Arena Charlottesville, VA |
| 1/8/2009 | No. 16 | Saint Louis | W 70–44 | 12–2 (1–0) | Cintas Center Cincinnati, OH |
| 1/11/2009 | No. 16 | at Fordham | W 86–60 | 13–2 (2–0) | Rose Hill Gym Bronx, NY |
| 1/15/2009 | No. 15 | at Rhode Island | W 67–65 | 14–2 (3–0) | Thomas M. Ryan Center Kingston, RI |
| 1/18/2008 | No. 15 | La Salle | W 73–53 | 15–2 (4–0) | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| 1/21/2009 | No. 15 | at St. Bonaventure | W 84–64 | 16–2 (5–0) | Reilly Center St. Bonaventure, NY |
| 1/24/2009* | No. 15 | at LSU | W 80–70 | 17–2 | Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, LA |
| 1/28/2009 | No. 10 | Charlotte | W 69–47 | 18–2 (6–0) | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| 1/31/2009 | No. 10 | Massachusetts | W 82–80 | 19–2 (7–0) | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| 2/5/2009 | No. 9 | Temple | W 83–74 | 20–2 (8–0) | Cintas Center Cincinnati, OH |
| 2/7/2009 | No. 9 | at Duquesne | L 68–72 | 20–3 (8–1) | AJ Palumbo Center Pittsburgh, PA |
| 2/12/2009 | No. 14 | at Dayton | L 58-71 | 20–4 (8–2) | University of Dayton Arena Dayton, OH |
| 2/14/2009 | No. 14 | Fordham | W 88–53 | 21–4 (9–2) | Cintas Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| 2/19/2009 | No. 16 | at Charlotte | L 60–65 | 21–5 (9–3) | Dale F. Halton Arena Charlotte, North Carolina |
| 2/22/2009 | No. 16 | George Washington | W 71–53 | 22–5 (10–3) | Cintas Center Cincinnati, OH |
| 2/26/2009 | No. 19 | at Saint Joseph's | W 65–54 | 23–5 (11–3) | The Palestra Philadelphia, PA |
| 3/5/2009 | No. 17 | Dayton | W 76–59 | 24–5 (12–3) | Cintas Center Cincinnati, OH |
| 3/7/2009 | No. 17 | at Richmond | L 75–80 | 24–6 (12–4) | Robins Center (10,031) Richmond, VA |
| A-10 tournament ||||||
| 3/12/2009 | (1) No. 19 | vs. (9) Saint Louis Quarterfinals | W 66–47 | 25–6 | Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, New Jersey |
| 3/13/2009 | (1) No. 19 | vs. (4) Temple Semifinals | L 53–55 | 25–7 | Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, New Jersey |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 3/20/2009* CBS | (4 E) No. 20 | vs. (13 E) Portland State First Round | W 77–59 | 26–7 | Taco Bell Arena Boise, ID |
| 3/22/2009* CBS | (4 E) No. 20 | vs. (12 E) Wisconsin Second Round | W 60–49 | 27–7 | Taco Bell Arena Boise, ID |
| 3/26/2009* CBS | (4 E) No. 20 | vs. (1 E) No. 4 Pittsburgh Sweet Sixteen | L 55–60 | 27–8 | TD Banknorth Garden Boston, MA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked т = Tied with team above or below :
| | 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 | Final |
| AP | — | — | 16 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 22 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 16 | 19 | 17 | 19 | 20 | Not released |
| Coaches | — | — | 20 | 14 | 9 | 7 т | 12 | 22 | 18 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 14 | 17 | 22 | 18 | 19 | 22 | 15 |