Date: Monday, November 2, 2026

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Location: Cintas Center, Cincinnati, Ohio

TV: ESPN+

Spread: Xavier -26.5

The Xavier Musketeers are officially back as they host the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers Monday night in their season opener. This is a buy game for the Musketeers, meaning they should win handily. Despite that, the excitement for this squad is buzzing, and we’ve got you covered with a full game preview below.

Get to Know the Mountaineers

The Mountaineers are located in Emmicksburg, Maryland, where they have made seven NCAA Tournaments, most recently in the 2024-2025 season. They are led by head coach Donny Lind in his third year. Lind led them to the tournament in his first season with the team.

Focusing on this year’s squad, the Mountaineers played in one exhibition, where they beat Navy 66-59. Junior guard Abdou Khadre Kebe paced the Mount, putting up a twenty point performance. Kebe was named to the Preseason All-Metro First Team. Redshirt senior forward Wilguens Junior Exacte added a 12 point, 10 rebound double-double. Freshman and junior guards Julien Smith and Redd Thompson Jr. each added 11 points of their own. The Mount also held Navy to 36.5% shooting from the field, showing strong defensive ability.

Outside of the four mentioned, other key players for the Mount are senior guard Anthony Arrington Jr. and sophomore forward Yakhya Diop. Arrington will play an expanded role this season, after averaging 5.7 PPG last year. Diop is a 7’0″ unit down low, who will make an impact every time he’s on the court.

Keys to the Game

Build Confidence: This is a great game for the Musketeers to allow some players who struggled in the preseason to come out and build their confidence. For example, Chance Westry struggled in exhibtions. Monday, he could play extended minutes and get into rhythm for the long regular season ahead.

Come out Hot: It’s the first game of the season, meaning the nerves will be high. In order to squash that feeling, Xavier must come out firing. Taking an early lead will likely keep the Mountaineers out of the game and will help the Musketeers generate easy offense throughout.

Shoot the Three: Xavier has numerous talented three-point shooters on their roster, meaning they should let the ball fly Monday night. 3-pointers always get fans excited and the more they make in Cintas, the louder it gets.

Projected Starters

Xavier

Guard: Tru Washington

11.9 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.8 APG at Miami last season

Guard: Ruben Dominguez

10.2 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.4 APG at Texas A&M last season

Forward: Filip Borovicanin

10.8 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 4.2 APG at Xavier last season

Forward: Jovan Milicevic

12.4 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 1.4 APG at Xavier last season

Forward: Mike Nwoko

13.4 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 0.8 APG at LSU last season

Mount St. Mary’s

Guard: Abdou Khadre Kebe

7.7 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.0 APG at Mount St. Mary’s last season

Guard: Julien Smith

Freshman, no stats last season.

Guard: Redd Thompson Jr.

10.3 PPG, 1.6 RPG, 2.0 APG at Longwood last season

Forward: Wilguens Junior Exacte

7.3 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1.6 APG at Drake last season

Forward: Yakhya Diop

1.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 0.1 APG at Mount St. Mary’s last season

Wrap-Up and Prediction

The Musketeers should handle business in game one of the season, as they are the superior team talent-wise.

Xavier wins 88-62

While you are here, check out our full season preview: