# 2015–16 Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team represented Xavier University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by seventh year head coach Chris Mack, they played their games at the Cintas Center and were third year members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 28–6, 14–4 in Big East play to finish in second place. They defeated Marquette in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament to advance to the semifinals where they lost to Seton Hall. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they received a #2 seed. They defeated Weber State in the First Round to advance to the Second Round where they lost to Wisconsin.

## Previous season

The Musketeers finished the 2014–15 season 23–14, 9–9 in Big East play to finish in sixth place. They advanced to the finals of the Big East tournament where they lost to Villanova. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Ole Miss and Georgia State before losing to Arizona in the Sweet Sixteen.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Brandon Randolph | 3 | G | 6'2" | 189 | Sophomore | Inglewood, CA | Transferred to Utah Valley |
| Dee Davis | 10 | G | 6'0" | 170 | Senior | Bloomington, IN | Graduated |
| Matt Stainbrook | 40 | C | 6'10" | 270 | RS Senior | Bay Village, OH | Graduated |

## Incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Kaiser Gates SF | Alpharetta, GA | St. Francis | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Oct 16, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| 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: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| Nov 7, 2015* 2:00 pm | | Northwood | W 97–77 | 0–0 | 17 – Sumner | 9 – Bluiett | 7 – Davis | Cintas Center (9,312) Cincinnati, OH |
| Non-Conference Regular season |||||||||
| Nov 13, 2015* 7:00 pm, FCS | | Miami (OH) | W 81–72 | 1–0 | 19 – Sumner | 15 – Reynolds | 3 – Tied | Cintas Center (10,372) Cincinnati, OH |
| Nov 17, 2015* 6:30 pm, FS1 | | Missouri | W 78–66 | 2–0 | 18 – Bluiett | 14 – Farr | 4 – Davis | Cintas Center (9,751) Cincinnati, OH |
| Nov 20, 2015* 9:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 24 Michigan Gavitt Tipoff Games | W 86–70 | 3–0 | 15 – Tied | 13 – Farr | 3 – Tied | Crisler Center (11,967) Ann Arbor, MI |
| Nov 23, 2015* 8:30 pm, FS1 | No. 23 | Northern Kentucky | W 78–66 | 4–0 | 14 – Bluiett | 16 – Blueitt | 5 – Blueitt | Cintas Center (9,688) Cincinnati, OH |
| Nov 26, 2015* 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 23 | vs. Alabama AdvoCare Invitational First Round | W 64–45 | 5–0 | 15 – Bluiett | 9 – Reynolds | 6 – Sumner | HP Field House (4,629) Bay Lake, FL |
| Nov 27, 2015* 2:30 pm, ESPNU | No. 23 | vs. USC AdvoCare Invitational Semifinals | W 87–77 | 6–0 | 16 – Bluiett | 9 – Farr | 3 – Austin Jr. | HP Field House (4,170) Bay Lake, FL |
| Nov 29, 2015* 4:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 23 | vs. Dayton AdvoCare Invitational Championship | W 90–61 | 7–0 | 14 – Sumner | 7 – Farr | 3 – Tied | HP Field House (4,633) Bay Lake, FL |
| Dec 5, 2015* 8:30 pm, FS1 | No. 12 | WKU | W 95–64 | 8–0 | 21 – Bluiett | 10 – Bluiett | 6 – Davis | Cintas Center (10,250) Cincinnati, OH |
| Dec 8, 2015* 7:00 pm, FS1 | No. 12 | Wright State | W 90–55 | 9–0 | 22 – Bluiett | 11 – Bluiett | 4 – Abell | Cintas Center (10,178) Cincinnati, OH |
| Dec 12, 2015* 5:30 pm, FOX | No. 12 | No. 23 Cincinnati Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout | W 65–55 | 10–0 | 17 – Davis | 6 – Tied | 5 – Sumner | Cintas Center (10,617) Cincinnati, OH |
| Dec 19, 2015* 12:00 pm, FS1 | No. 10 | Auburn | W 85–61 | 11–0 | 18 – Reynolds | 11 – Farr | 5 – Tied | Cintas Center (10,018) Cincinnati, OH |
| Dec 22, 2015* 7:30 pm | No. 6 | at Wake Forest Skip Prosser Classic | W 78–70 | 12–0 | 21 – Sumner | 9 – Tied | 3 – Davis | LJVM Coliseum (12,938) Winston-Salem, NC |
| Big East regular season |||||||||
| Dec 31, 2015 12:00 pm, FS1 | No. 6 | at No. 16 Villanova | L 64-95 | 12–1 (0–1) | 15 – Farr | 7 – Farr | 5 – Davis | The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, PA |
| Jan 2, 2016 1:00 pm, FS1 | No. 6 | No. 9 Butler Big East New Year's Marathon | W 88–69 | 13–1 (1–1) | 21 – Abell | 10 – Farr | 5 – Davis | Cintas Center (10,498) Cincinnati, OH |
| Jan 6, 2016 9:00 pm, FS1 | No. 10 | at St. John's | W 74–66 | 14–1 (2–1) | 19 – Davis | 13 – Reynolds | 4 – Davis | Carnesecca Arena (4,168) Queens, NY |
| Jan 12, 2016 6:30 pm, FS1 | No. 7 | DePaul | W 84–64 | 15–1 (3–1) | 24 – Bluiett | 7 – Reynolds | 7 – Davis | Cintas Center (10,400) Cincinnati, OH |
| Jan 16, 2016 2:00 pm, FS1 | No. 7 | at Marquette | W 74–66 | 16–1 (4–1) | 18 – Bluiett | 19 – Farr | 5 – Sumner | BMO Harris Bradley Center (14,864) Milwaukee, WI |
| Jan 19, 2016 8:45 pm, FS1 | No. 5 | Georgetown | L 72–81 | 16–2 (4–2) | 18 – Bluiett | 10 – Bluiett | 5 – Bluiett | Cintas Center (9,906) Cincinnati, OH |
| Jan 23, 2016 2:00 pm, FSN | No. 5 | Seton Hall | W 84–76 | 17–2 (5–2) | 24 – Farr | 15 – Farr | 5 – Davis | Cintas Center (10,368) Cincinnati, OH |
| Jan 26, 2016 8:30 pm, FS1 | No. 7 | at No. 10 Providence | W 75–68 | 18–2 (6–2) | 15 – Tied | 11 – Reynolds | 7 – Davis | Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,804) Providence, RI |
| Jan 30, 2016 2:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 7 | at DePaul | W 86–65 | 19–2 (7–2) | 15 – Bluiett | 6 – Tied | 4 – Austin Jr. | Allstate Arena (6,958) Rosemont, IL |
| Feb 3, 2016 6:30 pm, FS1 | No. 6 | St. John's | W 90–83 | 20–2 (8–2) | 16 – Davis | 13 – Bluiett | 5 – Davis | Cintas Center (10,250) Cincinnati, OH |
| Feb 6, 2016 12:00 pm, FS1 | No. 6 | Marquette | W 90–82 | 21–2 (9–2) | 23 – Bluiett | 9 – Reynolds | 8 – Bluiett | Cintas Center (10,509) Cincinnati, OH |
| Feb 9, 2016 8:30 pm, CBSSN | No. 5 | at Creighton | L 56–70 | 21–3 (9–3) | 17 – Reynolds | 9 – Reynolds | 2 – Tied | CenturyLink Center (17,011) Omaha, NE |
| Feb 13, 2016 2:30 pm, FOX | No. 5 | at Butler | W 74–57 | 22–3 (10–3) | 13 – Macura | 12 – Farr | 3 – Tied | Hinkle Fieldhouse (9,344) Indianapolis, IN |
| Feb 17, 2016 7:00 pm, FS1 | No. 8 | No. 23 Providence | W 85–74 | 23–3 (11–3) | 23 – Bluiett | 15 – Reynolds | 12 – Davis | Cintas Center (10,336) Cincinnati, OH |
| Feb 20, 2016 12:07 pm, FOX | No. 8 | at Georgetown | W 88–70 | 24–3 (12–3) | 22 – Sumner | 5 – Tied | 4 – Macura | Verizon Center (10,652) Washington, D.C. |
| Feb 24, 2016 7:00 pm, FS1 | No. 5 | No. 1 Villanova | W 90–83 | 25–3 (13–3) | 19 – Tied | 7 – Tied | 9 – Sumner | Cintas Center (10,727) Cincinnati, OH |
| Feb 28, 2016 12:30 pm, FS1 | No. 5 | at Seton Hall | L 81–90 | 25–4 (13–4) | 17 – Tied | 8 – Farr | 5 – Davis | Prudential Center (10,353) Newark, NJ |
| Mar 5, 2016 2:30 pm, FOX | No. 5 | Creighton | W 98–93 | 26–4 (14–4) | 24 – Davis | 8 – Gates | 7 – Davis | Cintas Center (10,633) Cincinnati, OH |
| Big East tournament |||||||||
| Mar 10, 2016 7:00 pm, FS1 | (2) No. 5 | vs. (7) Marquette Quarterfinals | W 90–72 | 27–4 | 24 – Bluiett | 6 – Bluiett | 7 – Sumner | Madison Square Garden (13,813) New York, NY |
| Mar 11, 2016 9:00 pm, FS1 | (2) No. 5 | vs. (3) Seton Hall Semifinals | L 83–87 | 27–5 | 21 – Sumner | 10 – Farr | 4 – Sumner/Davis | Madison Square Garden (17,130) New York, NY |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| Mar 18, 2016* 9:20 pm, TNT | (2 E) No. 9 | vs. (15 E) Weber State First Round | W 71–53 | 28–5 | 18 – Farr | 15 – Farr | 6 – Davis/Sumner | Scottrade Center (14,425) St. Louis, MO |
| Mar 20, 2016* 8:40 pm, TNT | (2 E) No. 9 | vs. (7 E) Wisconsin Second Round | L 63–66 | 28–6 | 13 – Abell/Reynolds | 9 – Reynolds | 5 – Sumner | Scottrade Center (15,169) St. Louis, MO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East Region. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. (RV) Received votes but unranked. (NR) Not ranked. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Wk 19 | Final |
| AP | RV | RV | 23 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 9 | *N/A |
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | 18 | 13 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 11 |
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings