Xavier rebuilds under Richard Pitino, with new pieces fueling Big East hopes

It was a rough first season for Richard Pitino, who had to rebuild the entire roster after arriving from New Mexico. The Musketeers had a lot of roster turnover again, but were able to add some quality pieces with an increased budget. The new players and another year of Pitino's system offer some hope of possibly finishing in the top half of the Big East after being tied for 10th last season.

Senior Tru Washington was reunited with Pitino after playing at Miami last season. The point guard can not only run Pitino's system, he excels on defense.

Senior forward Filip Borovićanin is hoping to return for another season after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed an executive order making all class of 2022 athletes eligible despite NCAA rules. He averaged 16.3 points over the last six games.

Junior forward Jovan Milicevic was second on the Musketeers in scoring, averaging 12.4 points and making 43% of his 3-pointers.

Tre Carroll, a Big East first-team selection, Malik Moore and Roddie Anderson graduated. ... Senior guard Chance Westry led the American in assists last season at UAB, averaging 5.5 per game. Senior guard Ruben Dominguez averaged 10.2 points last season at Texas A&M and shot 40% on 3-poitners. Senior center Michael Nwoko is at his fourth school in four years, but excelled at LSU last season, averaging 13.4 points and 5.9 rebounds.

The non-conference schedule features the annual Crosstown Shootout against Cincinnati on Dec. 5 as well as a home game against Iowa on Nov. 20. There are also neutral court games against Mississippi State (Nov. 13), Texas A&M (Nov. 25) and Virginia (Nov. 27). The Pitino vs. Pitino games vs. St. John's will be Jan. 26 in Cincinnati and Feb. 13 at Madison Square Garden. The elder Pitino took both games last season.

The Musketeers were picked to finish sixth in the Big East preseason poll .Milicevic and Nwoko were preseason third-team selections. ... Xavier set a school record with 309 3-pointers and 846 3-point attempts. It made at least 10 3-point field goals in 16 games, including 16 three times. ... The Musketeers led the conference and were 13th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.74.

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