Know Your Foe: Xavier
By: Dallas Bowlin
Senior Staff Writer/Editor/Host
All Vol Call In Show
For fellow Basketball sickos like myself, this may as well be Christmas. Basketball is back. Even if it is an exhibition, it’s back.
Tennessee hosts the Xavier Musketeers for the first of the Vols' two preseason exhibitions.
HISTORY:
The two programs have squared off a total of 17 times, with the Vols leading the series 12-5. The last matchup occurred in the Bahamas during the 2013-2014 season. Tennessee won that matchup, 64-49. Jarnell Stokes led the way for the Vols with a 20 point 10 rebound performance.
RETURNEES:
Forward Filip Borovicanin 10.8 pts, 7.4 rebs per, is pending a waiver
Forward Jovan Milicevic (12.4 pts per, 42.9% 3pt)
Forward Gabriel Pozzato (missed last season due to offseason surgery)
LOSSES:
Forward Tre Caroll (10.6 pts per, 50.1% fg)
Guard Roddie Anderson III (10.9 pts per, 39.8% fg)
Guard Malik Messina-Moore (10.9 pts, 1.1 steals per)
Guard All Wright (7.5 pts per, 46.2% fg)
Guard Isaiah Walker (4.7 pts per, 47.3% fg)
NEWCOMERS:
Guard Chance Westry - UAB transfer (15.5 pts, 1.3 steals per. 48.7% fg)
Guard Tru Washington - Miami transfer (11.9 pts, 1.8 steals per)
Guard Ruben Dominguez - Texas A&M transfer (10.2 points, 40% 3pt)
Forward Mike Nwoko - LSU transfer (13.4 pts, 5.9 rebs per. 61.0% fg)
Forward Nikolaos Chitikoudis - Robert Morris transfer (11.3 pts, 7.7 rebounds per)
Guard Kalek House (four-star freshman)
Forward Rolyns Aligbe - Southern Illinois transfer (9.5 pts, 7.4 rebs per).
Head Coach Richard Pitino (Son of legendary Rick Pitino) has overseen a huge turnover in production in just his second season, similar to Tennessee who itself only returns two of its players from last season (DeWayne Brown and Troy Henderson).
Last season, the Musketeers finished 15-18 overall and 6-14 in the Big East. At the end of the season, Xavier was ranked 94th on KenPom, the worst in Xavier history, with an offensive rating of 117.1 (68th) and a defensive rating of 109.2 (172nd) on KenPom.
Xavier boosters saw something with promise, however, as Pitino said that the program’s NIL budget was just a hair over 14 million this offseason, which almost tripled the 5.5 million he said the team had the season prior.
Last season, Xavier struggled to get to the rim, ranking 326th in field goal attempt rate at the rim per CBB Analytics. Pitino turns to Chance Westry in hopes of righting that ship.
In what was truly his first season of college basketball due to prior injury history, Westry earned second-team All-AAC honors. He ranked second in the American in assist rate, and per CBB Analytics, Westry ranked in the 94th percentile in rim field goal attempts among guards, and finished 62.7% of his looks at the rim.
At 6-6, Westry should help Xavier attack the rim in ways it struggled to last season. He’ll also be tasked with helping bolster a defense that, as stated, was pretty putrid last season.
Pitino also brings in LSU transfer forward Mike Nwoko, who started for the Tigers last season and proved to be an interior scoring threat. He’s not really a shot-blocking threat, but his offensive prowess can make up for that.
Tru Washington reunites with Pitino after spending a year in Miami to bring the Musketeers some much-needed shooting along with Dominguez, who hit 40% of his 200+ attempts from deep.
Being able to hold onto Jovan Milicevic from last year's squad was a huge help for Pitino. At 6-10, his 42% from deep makes Milicevic a true stretch four.
OFFENSIVE STYLE:
Pitino and former Xavier coach Sean Miller run very similar systems that draw from Gonzaga’s “Flow” offense, which is built on more concepts and player-driven than a series of predetermined plays.
Pitino wants to get out fast and get downhill to the rim. They’re not three-point obsessed, despite his father’s reputation as somewhat of a pioneer of the three-point shot in the college game. In his first year at Xavier, the team was 96th in three-point attempts. In his last year at New Mexico, his team was 229th in three-point attempts. The year before that, they were 191st.
In this interview with KOB 4 Albuquerque in 2024, Pitino describes his offense briefly.
And more recently, his comments on his “Richard Pitino Show” on June 4th of 2026, where he praises Nwoko and mentions wanting to be “big and physical.”
DEFENSIVE STYLE:
Pitino’s offense is about playing with pace, and his defense sets that pace up.
The Musketeers want to pressure the ball, create deflections, and force turnovers. “We try to get 30+ deflections per game,” Richard Pitino said on his radio show’s January 5th, 2026 edition https://www.iheart.com/podcast/960-xavier-basketball-show-28238441/episode/1-5-26-the-richard-pitino-radio-show-315712648
Rather than sitting back and letting the offense operate, Pitino wants to make it as difficult as possible for them to get into their stuff.
OTHER STUFF:
As I’m adding to this, Xavier just held on to beat Dayton 82-76 in an outdoor game. There was no live stream available for the game, so unfortunately, I’m having to work strictly off the box score here.
Mike Nwoko led the Musketeers with 19 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. However, Xavier and Dayton agreed to a “no foul out” rule, so Nwoko finished the game with nine personal fouls.
Ruben Dominguez followed Nwoko with 15 points, knocking down four of his six three-point attempts.
Offensively, the Musketeers shot an efficient 50% from the field on 50 attempts and 45.5% from three. However, they only attempted 11 three-pointers, making five of them.
Defensively, Xavier allowed the Flyers to shoot pretty efficiently as well. Dayton finished 59.1% from the field on 44 attempts and 36.8% from three on 19 attempts.
The Musketeers did force 16 Dayton turnovers and turned those into 16 points.
HOW TENNESSEE CAN WIN:
This can sometimes be difficult to do when you’re fielding a team as new to one another as Tennessee is, but taking care of the basketball should be priority number one for the Vols. Juke Harris, Terrence Hill Jr., and Dai Dai Ames, among others, will be tasked with keeping the ball out of harm's way.
Stop the ball. Tennessee cannot let Xavier get out in transition and bring the ball up court without pressure. Especially Westry. Use Xavier’s aggressiveness to your benefit and be prepared to step into passing lanes. Keeping Xavier in its half-court sets and out of transition may be what decides the game.
Finally, get in the paint. Xavier doesn’t have a proven rim protector. Putting as much pressure on the rim as possible and testing those potential shot blockers could get the Musketeers in foul trouble with the finishing skills of Tennessee’s guards and bigs.
HOW XAVIER CAN WIN:
As I said in the prior section, a team with a lot of new pieces can be susceptible to early-season turnovers. Tennessee has a lot of offensive firepower on paper, and the more Xavier can force turnovers and negate scoring attempts, keeps them out of rhythm.
Get downhill, fast. Tennessee has historically had pretty stout defenses under Rick Barnes, especially in the half-court. We don’t know yet how that defense will look, so attacking and making them scramble in transition could lead to easy looks.
Tennessee was elite on the offensive glass last season. They lost a lot of what made them so good in that category, but limiting the Vols' second-chance looks will be crucial for Xavier. If they’re lucky enough to hold Tennessee to a miss, they have to finish the possession.
Similar to Xavier, the Vols do lack a proven true rim protector (Unless Vanderbilt transfer Jalen Washington is ruled eligible). Braedan Lue and Miles Rubin had success protecting the rim at their prior stops, but this is a step up in competition. I would test them early at the rim.
PREDICTION
I expect this to be a fun game to the unbiased observer. Two teams feeling the other out for the first 10 minutes of game time. Maybe even trading the lead back and forth. At the end of the day, however, I think the talent advantage Tennessee has rears its head, and the Vols' offense overwhelms Xavier.
Tennessee - 86 | Xavier - 69
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