Any concerns that Xavier had a trap game between an emotional Crosstown Shootout win in front of a record home crowd and the start of Big East play vs. Creighton were dismissed Dec. 12.
It just took one half of basketball for those worries to be dispelled.
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One week after defeating UC, Xavier returned to Cintas Center Dec. 12 and handled its business in a 75-57 victory over Missouri State. Xavier overcame a sluggish first half where the Musketeers couldn’t find any rhythm and led by just three at the intermission.
Xavier came out of the locker room like a different team and turned on the jets with a 17-0 run to stretch its lead to as many as 21 points to win its fifth straight game.
“Good win and now we move on to conference play,” Xavier head coach Richard Pitino said. “
Xavier coach Richard Pitino directed his team to its fifth straight victory Dec. 12, a 75-57 decision over Missouri State for an 8-3 record entering Big East play.
Xavier wraps up the non-conference at 8-3
It was only 32 days ago when Xavier fans exited Cintas Center in disgust after the Musketeers were run off their home court by Santa Clara. A few days later, Xavier was handed its second-straight 19-point loss by Iowa to fall to 2-2 and looked like a team that would be lucky to hover around .500 for the rest of the season.
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Since then, Xavier has ripped off a 6-1 stretch to reshape the outlook on the rest of the season. At 8-3, it’s an identical non-conference record as Xavier’s last two NCAA Tournament teams.
“From where we started it’s been an overwhelming success, but that’s because we didn’t start great,” Pitino said. “We were throwing a lot of things up against the wall hoping it would stick. I think we’re comfortable with some of it, but we still gotta work on it. The effort and attitude are great.”
Last season’s Musketeers were 8-3 heading into Big East play after a Crosstown Shootout loss. During the 2022-23 campaign, Xavier won its final four non-conference games to get to 8-3 and were in the Sweet 16 three months later.
Xavier’s Tre Carroll, who was coming of an eye-opening 30-point game in the victory over UC, scored 13 points with seven rebounds and four assists in the victory over Missouri State.
Xavier pulls away from Missouri State in second half
Leading just 39-35 early in the second half, Xavier ripped off a deciding 17-0 run against the upset-minded Bears. That stretch was started by a 3-pointer from Filip Borovicanin, who would connect again from distance just two minutes later.
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Xavier held Missouri State scoreless for 6-plus minutes and stretched its lead to 56-35.
After going just 4-of-13 from 3-point range in the first half, Xavier made 10-plus 3-pointers for the sixth time in seven games after going 8-of-17 in the second half.
Jovan Milicevic led a quartet of Musketeers in double figures with 17 points. Tre Carroll finished with 13, guard All Wright had 10 and Borovicanin had his third double-double in the last six games (13 points, 11 rebounds). He also had a team-high 8 assists.
“I look at him (Borovicanin) like a guy I retained (from New Mexico). He’s comfortable in the way I coach and assist him. He’s a veteran and he’s doing some really good things,” Pitino said.
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Borovicanin was 4-of-23 from 3-point range over Xavier’s first nine games. He’s 5-of-9 from deep over the last two after connecting three times Friday.
“It’s not easy when you are shooting the ball and you know how much work you put in every single day,” said Borovicanin, whose parents flew in from Serbia to watch the game. “Coach Pitino did an amazing job just letting me keep shooting. He’s done this every game.”
Five different Muskies had at least five points in the second half, with Isaiah Walker going 3-of-4 from the floor. Xavier shot 51.6% from the field in the second half and had 23 assists against just six turnovers.
“We’re a really connected group right now,” said walk-on Ian Sabourin, who hit a 3-pointer late and is now 4-for-4 in his Xavier career.
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Lid on the basket early for Xavier’s offense
Early on, it appeared the “3” Musketeers that highlighted the start of Xavier’s winning streak but went cold against UC (6-of-28 from downtown) were back. Xavier opened the contest 3-for-3 from deep, but things went south in a hurry as a cold front swirled through Xavier’s offense.
Going into the final media timeout of the first half, Xavier was just 8-of-29 from the field and had two scoring droughts of over four minutes. Xavier got to the rim against the undersized Bears but couldn’t get anything to drop, going 4-of-11 on layups and 8-of-21 from 2-point range.
Xavier did end the half on a 9-4 run, highlighted by Milicevic hitting from inside and outside, to take a 31-28 lead into the break.
Xavier Musketeers guard All Wright (3) hits a layup in the first half of a NCAA men’s basketball game between the Xavier Musketeers and Missouri State Bears, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, at Cintas Center in Cincinnati.
Xavier gets off to sloppy start against Missouri State
The biggest visible change for Xavier Friday was the atmosphere from a week earlier. A sold-out Cintas Center welcomed the Musketeers against UC in the Crosstown Shootout. There was a severe drop in buzz when Missouri State came to town in the non-conference finale.
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It led to a stagnant, lethargic start where Xavier was sloppy in several areas like failing to box out, soft defense and poor ball security. Xavier had four early turnovers against Missouri State, matching their total for the entire game against UC. Xavier’s biggest lead in the first half was four points (13-9) and the underdog Bears led for nearly seven minutes. It was tied for 5:30.
Missouri State leading scorer Keith Palek III had a game-high 23 points, but he was the vocal point of Xavier’s defense, which held him to 4-of-11 shooting in the second half with three turnovers.
What’s next for Xavier men’s basketball?
Xavier will wrap up its five-game homestand and open Big East Conference play on Wednesday, Dec. 17 when the Creighton Bluejays visit Cintas Center. Xavier’s first road conference game is at Georgetown Dec. 20.
“They know it’s gonna get real now,” Pitino said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Analysis of Xavier Musketeers’ win over Missouri State Bears
