The Xavier men’s basketball team will be making it’s return to the NCAA Tournament Friday when the No. 3 seed Musketeers will face 14th-seeded Kennesaw State in Greensboro. It will be Xavier's first trip to the tournament since 2018.
It will be the 29th appearance in program history.
Among the highlights in the Musketeers’ history are the first tournament win, beating Missouri in 1987, a now-legendary upset of mighty Georgetown in 1990, Elite Eight runs in 2004, 2008 and 2017 and its first No. 1 seed in 2018.
Along the way Xavier has faced off with notable players such as Danny Manning, Glen Rice, Dikembe Mutombo, Alonzo Mourning, Allen Iverson, J.J. Redick, Adam Morrison, Greg Oden, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Jimmy Butler and C.J. McCollum.
The Musketeers have also played against legendary coaches Wimp Sanderson, Norm Stewart, Mike Krzyzewski, Larry Brown, Steve Fisher, Lon Kruger, John Thompson, Jim Calhoun, Bob Knight, Kelvin Sampson, Gary Williams, Mark Few, Thad Matta, Bob Huggins, Bo Ryan, Tubby Smith, Scott Drew, Sean Miller and Leonard Hamilton.
Memorable Xavier NCAA Tournaments
1987: Xavier’s first NCAA Tournament win
Xavier came into their first-round game as eight-point underdogs to a Missouri team that was ranked No. 14 nationally and left as 70-69 winners for the school’s first tournament win in four trips.
Byron Larkin scored 29 points and Tyrone Hill grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Xavier at the Hoosier Dome.
“We never dreamed we’d be in the NCAA Tournament or win in the first round, to be honest,” Xavier coach Pete Gillen said after the game. “This shows what you can do when you believe in yourselves.”
The Musketeers ran into powerhouse Duke in the next round and fell 65-60.
Xavier led for most of the first half, but the Blue Devils went on a 13-4 run in the final 6:06 to close out the game.
“It’s a 40-minute game, and we let down the last two minutes because of a lack of experience and a lack of poise,” Gillen said after the game.
The loss to the Blue Devils also ended a chance of the Musketeers getting to play at home in the next round. The Midwest Regional was held at Riverfront Coliseum that year.
1988 and 1989: Xavier takes a shot at the best
In back-to-back seasons Xavier lost to the eventual national champions: Kansas in 1988 and Michigan in 1989.
Led by Danny Manning and coach Larry Brown, the Jayhawks bested Xavier 85-72.
Manning scored 24 points to lead Kansas and Larkin, who injured his right leg in the first half, was held to a season-low 16 points.
The next season against Michigan, Xavier was up 71-65 with nine minutes to play before the Wolverines came back to win, 92-87.
Glen Rice sparked the Michigan comeback, hitting a pair of 3-pointers to take the lead twice (at 81-80 and 84-82.)
“Those threes killed us,” Xavier’s Derek Strong said after the game.
Michigan’s trio of future NBA players outdueled the Musketeers’ future NBA duo.
Rice and Rumeal Robinson each scored 23 and Terry Mills had 18 for the Wolverines. Hill scored 21 points and Strong had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Musketeers.
1990: Xavier’s Georgetown upset and first Sweet 16
Following an opening-round win over Kansas State, Xavier upset mighty Georgetown, 74-71, in the second round to advance to their first-ever Sweet 16.
Led by center Dikembe Mutombo, the heavily-favored, and No. 8-ranked, Hoyas were shocked by the Musketeers.
“I learned there is a team called Xavier,” Mutombo said after the loss. “I’d never heard of them before, I’d never seen them play before.”
Mutombo scored nine points and added 12 rebounds and blocked two shots. Fellow future Hall-of-Famer Alonzo Mourning had 15 points, 10 rebound and two blocks.
Xavier’s frontcourt of Strong (19 points, 10 rebounds) and Hill (13 points, 8 rebounds) more than held their own.
The duo impressed legendary Georgetown coach John Thompson.
“They hustle and they work very hard,” Thompson said after the game. “They hit the offensive board hard. They create problems. They aren’t just 6-10 guys standing on the block.
“When you have the mobility and flexibility they do, it puts and awful lot of pressure on your guards trying to come back and help.”
Freshman Aaron Williams, himself a future NBA player, only scored two points for the Musketeers, but his rebound and putback of a Jamal Walker miss gave Xavier the lead for good at 72-70.
“It’s just one game,” Gillen said after the game, “But I think we got a little bit of respect (Sunday).”
Xavier’s run would come to an end in the next round, a 102-89 loss to Texas.
“They were desperate for success,” Gillen said after the game. “We wanted success. That was the difference.”
1993: Xavier puts a scare into top-ranked Indiana
Following a first-round defeat of New Orleans, No. 9 seed Xavier met with the nation’s No. 1 team — the Indiana Hoosiers coached by Bobby Knight.
Playing in the Hoosier Dome, the Musketeers went toe-to-toe with the Hoosiers and had the ball down two with a minute left in the game. Xavier was never able to get over the hump though, and lost 73-70.
“Everybody’s saying, ‘You played them really good; no one expected you to win, and you played them really great,’ “ Xavier’s Brian Grant said after the game. “That’s great, that they didn’t expect anything. But we did. We expected to win.”
Gillen opined after the game: “None of our guys were major recruits. We played the Number One team in the country with a bunch of dead-end kids. And we had a chance to win.”
The Hoosiers managed to keep Grant in check, holding him to 5-for-13 from the floor for 11 points. Jamie Gladden scored a team-high 18 points and Aaron Williams had 17 and 10 rebounds.
Calbert Cheaney had 23 points and Greg Graham had 19 for Indiana.
The Hoosiers shot 26 free throws while the Musketeers shot 14. The foul discrepancy was a talking point after the game.
“They (the officials) weren’t calling it (fouls) the other way,” Xavier’s Steve Gentry said. “Just because they’re Indiana, the number one team in the country. Who cares? I think their name intimidated (the officials).”
2004: Xavier’s first Elite Eight
Xavier made the tournament six times from 1994-2003, but never made it out of the first weekend.
All that changed in 2004.
Romain Sato scored 24 points in a first round win over Louisville.
That meant the Musketeers, a No. 7 seed, would have to play No. 2 seed Mississippi State to reach the Sweet 16. Behind a career-high 31 points from Lionel Chalmers, Xavier was headed back to the Sweet 16.