Baking from scratch in his new Big East job, the first glimpse of first-year Xavier head coach Richard Pitino‘s recipe will be on display at 2 p.m. Oct. 18 at Cintas Center as the Musketeers battle Murray State in an exhibition contest.
After several months of work relatively out of the public eye, Xavier men’s basketball finally takes center stage with a new coach and a completely new roster returning zero minutes from the club that went to the NCAA Tournament in March.
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Xavier will be on display a few times leading up to the Nov. 3 season-opener against Marist. Pitino and a select group of players will field questions in Manhattan at Madison Square Garden during Big East Media Day Oct. 21.
More: ‘We’re starting from scratch.’ Xavier opens fall practice with new head coach, roster
“The best thing to see about your team is when you play an exhibition game and you can’t play everybody, then you really know,” Pitino said. “The attitude’s been great, the effort has been really, really good, guys are getting better, but I’m constantly changing the lineups to see what I’ve got versatility wise.”
What they’re saying about Xavier, Murray State
With so many unknowns on Pitino’s first roster that includes just one returning player in guard Roddie Anderson (redshirt last season), the majority of national college basketball scribes and pundits are picking Xavier to finish in the bottom half of the Big East.
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We’ll see what fellow coaches think of Pitino’s first team when the Big East preseason coaches’ poll gets released Oct. 21.
Malik Messina-Moore (3) is expected to be one of the top scorers for Xavier this season after averaing 12.6 points per game shooting 40.9% from 3-point range last season at Montana.
Murray State is also under new leadership after the school parted ways with Steve Prohm after three seasons (45-52 overall, 29-31 MVC). The Racers went into the Big East and tabbed former Creighton top assistant Ryan Miller as their next head coach in March.
Murray State has competed in the Missouri Valley Conference over the last three seasons after previously being a member of the Ohio Valley Conference since 1948. Murray State went to the NCAA Tournament three times under head coach Matt McMahon (2018, 2019, 2022) before he left for LSU.
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Last season, Murray State was No. 138 overall in KenPom. The Racers played at one of the slowest tempos in the country (No. 309) and were one of the nation’s top rebounding teams (No. 34).
Murray State is also starting from scratch with no returning players following the coaching change. Senior guard Javon Jackson is certainly a player to watch in his Racers’ debut after leading UIC in scoring (11.6 points per game) last season. He began his career at Utah State.
Going into the 2025-26 campaign, Xavier is No. 62 in KenPom (seventh in the Big East) and Murray State is No. 134 (sixth in the MVC).
New Xavier head coach Richard Pitino will lead his Musketeers against Murray State in an exhibition game Oct. 18. The 2025-26 season-opener is Nov. 3 against Marist.
Why exhibition contest matters for Richard Pitino’s Xavier Musketeers
Any team with a roster of newcomers will lack an identity early on. Any opportunity to play against another jersey is the first step to finding one and serves as a nice litmus test early in the college basketball calender.
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Last year, a veteran Xavier team got the experience of a tough environment when it went on the road and beat the UD Flyers. This year’s young group will get the Cintas Center feel in October just a few weeks before the game’s actually count.
Furthermore, Pitino will get to test out multiple lineups, a rotation off the bench and really test his team’s depth. He’s already put it out there that minutes are for grabs for anyone on the roster.
“If you can help us win, I’m gonna play ya. That’s really what this thing comes down to. Who can impact winning,” he said. “If you can help us win, you’re gonna play.”
New Xavier guard All Wright (3) was the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year last season at Valparaiso. He averaged 15.5 points over 34 games.
Xavier vs. Murray State history
Xavier has won all four previous meetings against Murray State, though Saturday’s clash won’t count toward the record book.
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Xavier swept a two-games series against Murray State during the 1953-54 season, then earned a victory one year later at Schmidt Fieldhouse. The two schools went nearly 60 years before the next matchup, an 89-62 victory for the Musketeers at Cintas Center in 2014.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Xavier basketball opens season in exhibition contest vs. Murray State
