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.

Advertisement

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.

Tennessee guard Jalen Haralson (10) defends Xavier forward Filip Borovicanin during a college basketball exhibition game on Oct. 15, 2026, in Knoxville, Tennessee.

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.

Advertisement

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…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/xavier-musketeers-storm-back-exhibition-011358436.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-10-16 01:13:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.