Xavier Musketeers storm back for exhibition road win over Tennessee

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. − Xavier men’s basketball won’t be able to add its exhibition win over Tennessee to its official win-loss record, but the Musketeers could take something nearly as valuable into the start of the regular season.

Xavier proved they could win on the road against an elite opponent with an 86-70 victory over the Volunteers at Food City Center. Xavier may have traveled to Knoxville looking for a measuring stick, but they will leave with something more after overcoming several obstacles against an opponent that has gone to the Elite Eight in three consecutive years and should be ranked when the regular season rolls around in a few weeks.

"A lot to learn from it," Xavier head coach Richard Pitino said. "It's an exhibition game, it doesn't count, but a lot of good things to draw from it, for sure."

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Xavier might only have one true road game (against UC in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout) in its non-conference schedule, but the Musketeers got a nice preview of life away from Cintas Center Thursday in Rocky Top.

Xavier was able to pull out a true road win by overcoming multiple hurdles, both in and out of its control. First, the Musketeers were shorthanded in both exhibitions thus far. Against Dayton, Xavier was without freshman Asher Elson and forward Rolyns Aligbe. On Thursday, the Musketeers were missing Elson and fellow freshman Kalek House, who got banged up early against Dayton.

There was also the addition of Filip Borovicanin, who was deemed eligible through Governor Mike DeWine's executive order earlier this week. The forward started for Xavier and had three points and five rebounds over 21 minutes.

"It's nice to have him (Borovicanin) out there. He's a savvy veteran," Pitino said. "He has a calming influence when he's out on the court."

The biggest obstacle to Xavier finding itself is foul trouble. It didn't sting as badly against Dayton, when players were granted unlimited whistles and two Xavier starters combined for 16 fouls.

That wasn't the case against Tennessee, and Xavier paid the price for it as six Musketeers committed two fouls in the first half and the Volunteers took advantage at the free-throw line, going 10 of 14 to take a 35-27 lead at the half.

Xavier center Mike Nwoko, who had 19 points and 11 rebounds against Dayton, played just four minutes in the first half. He picked up a technical early in the second half and was whistled for his fourth foul with over 14 minutes remaining.

It wouldn’t matter as Xavier got contributions up and down a roster Pitino praised for its depth this offseason to erase a double-digit deficit in the second half.

Xavier took a 45-44 lead with 15:52 remaining after Jovan Milicevic caught fire out of the locker room. Xavier's top returner fueled an offense that shot just 32.4% in the first half with a transition bucket and a 3-pointer from the wing.

Xavier's comeback was anchored by guard Tru Washington, who was just 3 of 10 from the field but was the main facilitator for an offense that shot 70.4% from the field in the second half, finishing with 12 assists.

He was one of five Musketeers in double figures as Milicevic finished with 16, and Nikos Chitikoudis had a team-high 17 points with extended playing time as Nwoko was limited to just 10 minutes due to foul trouble.

Ruben Dominguez had 14 points with four 3-pointers in the second half, including back-to-back daggers in front of the Xavier bench. Gabriel Pozzato was the highlight of Xavier's first half, finishing with 11 points, five rebounds and four steals.

"Tru (Washington) has been begging me for years to play the point," Pitino said. "He finally got his way."

Washington added: "Ruben (Dominguez) is a shooter. Anywhere he's at, find him, because he's gonna open up the floor. They started helping on him, then the big man was open in the middle so I was hitting him."

Xavier got its way against a Tennessee squad that was No. 1 in the SEC in scoring defense (69.6 points per game) one season ago, albeit the Volunteers were making their exhibition debut with a slew of newcomers.

While Tennessee shook off the rust, Xavier still matched a lengthy Volunteers' lineup blow for blow from a physicality standpoint. Xavier won the rebounding battle, 45-31, with Milicevic and Rolyns Aligbe each grabbing a team-high seven. Xavier also outscored Tennessee by 10 points in the paint (40-30), on second-chance opportunities (17-7) and on the fast break (19-9).

"We clearly looked a little ahead because we had already played one (exhibition game)," Pitino said.

Xavier's final exhibition game is at Cintas Center against Kent State on Friday, Oct. 23.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Xavier Musketeers storm back for exhibition road win over Tennessee