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The Xavier Musketeers will become the first Big East team to complete nonconference play following Tuesday night’s game against the Eastern Washington Eagles.
A victory would give the Musketeers double-digit nonconference victories for the third time in the past four seasons.
How to watch, listen or stream
Game time: 6:30 p.m. ET
TV: FS1 (Steve Physioc, Tarik Turner)
Radio: WLW 700 Cincinnati
Live Stream: FOX Sports Go (Where available)
Gamblin’ Info
The Musketeers come into this game as a 24 point favorite. The over/under is set at 149, per OddsShark.
All-Time Series
The Musketeers and Eagles have never met, but EWU has experience against the Big East. Most recently, they lost to Georgetown in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
Preview
As mentioned above, this is Xavier’s final nonconference game. Following this contest, they’ll have a full week off, and face Providence to open Big East play on December 28. The Musketeers have struggled with a couple things (three-point shooting, notably) through the nonconference slate, so this is their last chance to really shore up and get things together before the rigors of Big East play.
The Musketeers certainly don’t have the nonconference success they had last season when they went 12-0, but 10-2 with losses on the road to Baylor and Colorado is still a successful slate overall. There have been struggles, as mentioned above, but the positives have outweighed the negatives for Xavier through the first 11 games of the season.
The Musketeers shouldn’t overlook Eastern Washington, but the Eagles aren’t very good. They lost by 22 to Northern Kentucky on Sunday, and only scored 48 points in that game. They’re 8-3 on the year, but two of the wins are against Division II teams, and the highest-ranked KenPom opponent that the Eagles have beaten is #174 Denver.