Scouting report, keys to victory for Xavier vs. Missouri State

With an entire week to celebrate its hard-fought victory over Cincinnati in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout, Xavier will try to end the non-conference portion of the regular season on a high note against Missouri State Dec. 12.

If you rewind to a month ago, it would’ve been difficult to find any Xavier fan or basketball prognosticator to predict that the Musketeers would be scalding hot heading into Big East play.

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That’s exactly what’s on the table for Richard Pitino’s club heading into the Friday, Dec. 12 matchup with the Bears. Xavier (7-3) has won four straight and 5 of 6 overall, with the only loss coming at the buzzer to Georgia in the Charleston Classic.

Richard Pitino’s Xavier Musketeers have won four straight and 5 of 6 overall after a 2-2 start.

For reference, Xavier went 8-3 in the non-conference in each of its previous two trips to the NCAA Tournament (2023, 2025) and had a 6-5 non-conference record in 2024.

Tip: 7 p.m., Friday, Dec. 12, at Cintas Center (10,224)

TV/Radio: truTV/700 WLW

Ratings: Xavier is No. 83 in KenPom and Missouri State is No. 259. Xavier is No. 108 in the NCAA NET Rankings and Missouri State is No. 288.

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History: Xavier won its only meeting against Missouri State, but it was anything but pretty. In 2019, No. 21 Xavier survived a scare from Missouri State at Cintas Center, 59-56.

Missouri State Bears scouting report

Record: 4-4

Head coach: Cuonzo Martin (74-68 at Missouri State, fifth season)

Offense: 78.6 ppg

Defense: 73.9 ppg

Overview: Missouri State is in its first season in Conference USA after a 35-year run in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) that included a Cinderella Sweet 16 run in 1999 under Steve Alford.

The Bears are led by Cuonzo Martin, who is in the second year of his second stint as Missouri State’s head coach. He led the program to its only MVC regular-season title in 2011 before coaching stints at Tennessee (2011-2014), California (2014-2017) and Missouri (2017-2022). Martin is 3-2 all-time against…

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Publish date : 2025-12-11 15:10:00

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