Old, new faces lead Xavier to outdoor exhibition win over Dayton

MASON, Ohio − On a tennis court that earlier this year welcomed some of the biggest names in the sport, Xavier men's basketball found a different way to make history on Wednesday, Oct. 7.

Once a sun-splashed afternoon morphed into a beautiful autumn evening, Xavier beat Dayton in an outdoor exhibition, 82-76, at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in the CareSource Invitational.

"Obviously for a great cause with CareSource. It brings awareness for something that is very, very important," Xavier head coach Richard Pitino said. "A lot of chaos going on in college sports but being able to play these exhibitions was really beneficial."

Last season, Xavier tried its best not to hit the panic button after a preseason exhibition loss to Murray State at home. One year later, Pitino will make sure his squad won't overreact to a positive preseason result.

Though it won't count for anything when it comes to Xavier's record, the Musketeers' win might serve as a nice confidence builder with the start of the regular season less than a month away.

Last season, Xavier won just three games away from home. That included an 81-day stretch of losses outside Cintas Center before a first-round win in the Big East Tournament. On Wednesday, Xavier showcased the toughness and physicality it so desperately needed last year in a marquee non-conference matchup against a former Atlantic-10 rival.

New, old faces lead Xavier past Dayton in CareSource Invitational

Prior to the start of fall practice, Pitino said this year's Xavier team might have the "most depth" he's ever had in his 15 seasons as a head coach.

That depth was on display as Pitino utilized 11 different Musketeers against the Flyers, while eight played double-digit minutes.

Center Mike Nwoko made his presence felt inside, leading the Musketeers with a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double down low. His fellow team captain and former high school teammate Jovan Milicevic, Xavier's top returner, added 13 points.

They were two of four Xavier players to reach double figures as sharpshooter Ruben Dominguez connected four times from distance and finished with 15 points while Miami transfer Tru Washington added 14. Making his first appearance in a Xavier uniform after missing all of last season, Gabriel Pozzato had five points and two steals in 14 minutes.

Nwoko and fellow starter Chance Westry benefited from an exhibition contest permitting a player from fouling out. Nwoko had nine fouls and Westry had seven.

"Foul trouble has always been an issue with Mike (Nwoko)," Pitino said. "You can tell when he's on the court and he's not in foul trouble or he's fresh, he's one of the best bigs in the country. We've got to really teach him over the next month in practice to be really fundamentally sound defensively."

Xavier did not trail a single time in Wednesday's win. Dayton tied the game 10-10 going into the opening media timeout before the Musketeers ripped off a 17-2 run over the next 7-plus minutes.

Dayton, which scored just 29 points on 43.5% shooting in the first half, caught fire in the second stanza. The Flyers started 9-for-9 and were shooting over 90% for the majority of the second half.

Dayton cut the lead to 64-63 before Dominguez connected from the wing to give Xavier a four-point edge going into the under-8 media timeout.

"It was really cool," Dominguez said. "Especially when they had their run and I made that three. The environment got better there. It was really fun, for sure."

Like most exhibition games, there was some good and some bad things to take away from the box score. The two teams combined for 47 fouls, which led to 65 combined free throw attempts. Xavier held a 31-26 advantage on the glass and the two teams combined for 30 turnovers.

"I'm not necessarily worried about the final score as much as improving a lot of things," Pitino said.

Xavier was down two players in freshman forward Asher Elson and Southern Illinois transfer Rolyns Aligbe. Plus, freshman Kalek House got banged up in the first half Wednesday night. It left Xavier shorthanded against a Dayton squad that deployed a full-court press for the majority of the second half. Xavier committed 14 turnovers and Dayton had 16.

"Dayton's disruption really took us out of our rhythm. We did kind of respond. Every time they cut it to six, we built a lead back up to 10," Pitino said about the benefit of Xavier getting game pressure in the preseason opener.

Xavier will get a true road test in its next exhibition game as the Musketeers visit Rick Barnes' Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 15.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Old, new faces lead Xavier to outdoor exhibition win over Dayton