#MUBB Faces Xavier Wednesday In BIG EAST Tournament

Wednesday, March 11

New York, NY

5:30 P.M. CT

Marquette University

Xavier (First Round)

#MUBB Faces Xavier Wednesday In BIG EAST Tournament

3/9/2026 10:30:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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Peacock features 5:30 p.m. CT broadcast

By: Communications

The Marquette University men's basketball team (12-19, 7-13 BIG EAST) has earned the No. 7 seed in the 2026 BIG EAST Tournament presented by Jeep and will face No. 10 seed Xavier (14-17, 6-14 BIG EAST) in the event's first round at 5:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, March 11 in Madison Square Garden. Peacock/NBCSN feature the broadcast, with John Fanta (play-by-play), Donny Marshall (analyst) and Caroline Pineda (reporter) on the call. Wednesday's winner advances to face second-seeded UConn at 6 p.m. CT on Thursday night in the quarterfinals on FS1.

MU & Xavier Meet Again In League Tourney

Wednesday's game will mark the third time in the last four seasons the Golden Eagles and Musketeers will face each other in the league tourney.

MU defeated Xavier, 65-51, in the 2023 championship game to claim the program's first BIG EAST tourney title and held on for an 89-87 win last year in the quarterfinals.

The Golden Eagles own a 62-29 lead in matchups that date back to the 1958-59 campaign. MU dominated the outings during the Al McGuire and Hank Raymonds era, at one point claiming 26-straight victories between 1969 and 1983.

The two teams split the regular-season series in 2025-26, with each squad winning on its respective home court.

Marquette is set for its 20th BIG EAST Tournament (21st season overall - no league tourney in 2020) and has made a trip to at least the quarterfinals on 18 occasions. The Golden Eagles are 18-18 all-time in league tournament play since joining the BIG EAST and 30-33 in conference postseason events since 1989-90.

Prior to 2022-23, MU's lone tournament title came in 1996-97 when the team won four games in four days at the Conference USA Championship in St. Louis.

James Jr., Ross Earn All-BIG EAST Accolades

Guards Nigel James Jr. and Chase Ross both claimed conference accolades on Sunday, earning all-league recognition in voting conducted by the BIG EAST's head coaches.

James Jr. was tabbed All-BIG EAST Third Team and was named to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team, while Ross earned a spot on the BIG EAST All-Defensive Team.

James Jr., a candidate for the league's freshman of the year, reached double figures in scoring in 19-of-20 league outings and ranks among the conference's top-10 in five-different categories (season long and BIG EAST only). He was one of just two freshmen (Darius Acuff Jr. - Arkansas) in the nation to contribute at least 19.0 points, 5.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds per outing in conference matchups.

Ross has been regarded as one of the league's top perimeter defenders in recent seasons and as a result claimed a spot on the league's first all-defensive team roster. Through games of March 8, Ross ranks fist in the BIG EAST and 15th in the nation in steals per game (2.3 spg.) and for his career is currently sixth all-time at MU with 212 thefts.

As a team, Marquette also tops the league in steals per game (9.5) and is eighth in the country through games of March 8.

Deflection! Marquette Reaches 1K In 2025-26

The Marquette coaching staff tracks deflections, with the goal to collect 32-or-more every time the team takes the floor.

The Golden Eagles finished with exactly 32 in the win over No. 4/4 UConn on Saturday and freshman Adrien Stevens forced a jump ball in the final minutes to tally Marquette's 1,000th deflection on the season.

Marquette is averaging 32.3 deflections per game in 2025-26 and freshman Nigel James Jr. leads the team with 192 (top-five listed on page 3).

Marquette Claims Another Top-10 Win

The Golden Eagles defeated No. 4 UConn on Saturday afternoon, giving Marquette at least one victory against a top-10 opponent in each of the last seven seasons.

Dating back to the 2019-20 campaign, Marquette has been victorious against No. 10 Villanova (2019-20), No. 4 Wisconsin (2020-21), No. 10 Illinois (2021-22), No. 6 Baylor and No. 6 UConn (2022-23), No. 1 Kansas (2023-24), No. 6 Purdue (2024-25) and UConn (2025-26). Six of the seven wins have come at Fiserv Forum, with MU downing Kansas at the Maui Invitational.