Xavier extends nation's longest winning streak in season openers
· Yahoo Sports
One year ago, Xavier had to scratch and claw its way past Marist for a 66-62 win in the Musketeers' season opener.
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It was a sign of things to come as Xavier finished under .500 (15-18) for the second time in three years. Marist would go 19-12 and finished the year No. 201 in KenPom.
As a new season with high expectations tipped off on Nov. 2, there was no nail-biting as the new-look Musketeers dominated in every facet of their 97-52 victory over Mount St. Mary's at Cintas Center.
Xavier extended the nation's longest active winning streak in season openers to 37. It's followed by Texas Tech, East Carolina and Duke at 27.
1989: Xavier's last loss in a season opener
You have to go back to 1989 to find the last time Xavier began a season 0-1. Head coach Richard Pitino was just seven years old when Xavier was stunned at Cincinnati Gardens, 97-90, by Southern Utah to begin the 1989-1990 campaign.
It was a shaky start, but Pete Gillen's club bounced back nicely. Xavier wouldn't lose at home for the rest of the season, winning the next 12. Xavier, led by Tyrone Hill, Jamal Walker and Derek Strong, would finish 28-5 and make the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history.
The streak would start one year later, when Xavier coincidentally opened the 1990-1991 season with a 103-96 win over Mount St. Mary's. That was the only previous meeting between the two programs.
7: Different Xavier head coaches over winning streak
The streak has spanned seven different Xavier head coaches, beginning with Gillen, who won his final four season openers before moving on to become the head coach at Providence in 1994.
Skip Prosser went 7-0 from 1994-2001, followed by three straight 1-0 starts under Thad Matta. Sean Miller was 8-0 across two stints as Xavier's head coach (2004-2009, 2022-2025), Travis Steele went 4-0 and Pitino has now won both season debuts.
24.9: Average Xavier margin of victory during streak
Season openers are typically buy games, so blowouts are pretty common. Xavier has won its last 37 openers by an average of nearly 25 points.
Monday was the eighth time Xavier has started a season with a victory of 40-plus points and the first time since a 101-49 win over Oakland to begin the 2020-2021 season.
YearOpponentMargin 2017Morehead State University52 (101-49)2020Oakland 52 (101-49)1993Marietta48 (97-49)2026Mount St. Mary's45 (97-52)2005Eastern Illinois45 (80-35)1999Maryland Eastern Shore44 (96-52)2012Fairleigh Dickson42 (117-75)1992Huntington40 (113-73)Xavier led 51-16 at halftime, holding Mount St. Mary's to just 16.7% shooting (5-for-30) over the opening 20 minutes. It was the fewest points allowed by Xavier in the first half of a game since that win over Oakland in 2020.
Only seven of those 37 contests were decided by single digits, including three-point wins over Western Michigan (2010), Lehigh (2016) and Niagara (2021).
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Xavier extends nation's longest winning streak in season openers