The first game of the Richard Pitino era at Xavier was not an artistic piece of work, but it was a win, and the Musketeers will look to make it two in a row when they host Le Moyne on Thursday night in Cincinnati.
The Musketeers (1-0) overcame blowing a 20-point, second-half lead to Marist in their season opener Monday night at home, posting a 66-62 win over the Red Foxes.
Pitino watched nervously as Marist used a 13-0 run to erase a 59-47 deficit and lead by one with 3:22 left. But Jovan Milicevic’s three with 1:46 remaining put the Musketeers ahead to stay, 62-60.
“We needed guys to make plays. Jovan was certainly that at the end,” Pitino said. “If you can find a way to win a game when it’s close like that, there’s gonna be so many lessons learned from that game.”
Montana transfer Malik Messina-Moore led Xavier with 16 points, while All Wright joined Milicevic with 14 points. Xavier rebuilt its roster with 11 new players in two months of the offseason as only one player returned from last season.
“I don’t know how many pretty wins we’re gonna have this year, especially early in the year. We’re just trying to get everybody on the same page,” Pitino said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Redshirt sophomore guard Deng Garang scored a team-high 16 points as Le Moyne breezed to a 94-50 season-opening win over SUNY Cobleskill.
Garang also had five rebounds and three assists, while Tennessee Rainwater added 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field in his Dolphins debut.
Freshmen guards Eli Greenberg and Josiah Lee added 12 points apiece off the bench in their collegiate debuts, while Greenberg also chipped in with three assists and two steals.
Le Moyne’s win Monday night marked the first time the program had opened the season at home since the 2010-11 season. The Dolphins are playing in their third season as a Division I program, playing in the Northeast Conference.
