XU Rush to play 15 at home, exhibition at Vandy, 2 with UNO

Gold Rush Head Coach Dannton Jackson
(Photo Courtesy: Xavier University Sports Information)

NEW ORLEANS — Fifteen home games, back-to-back road exhibitions against NCAA Division I opponents and eight matchups against city schools are among the highlights of the 2011-12 Xavier University of Louisiana men's basketball schedule.

Ninth-year head coach Dannton Jackson announced the schedule Friday.

Xavier, 27-6 last season and No. 17 in the final NAIA Division I coaches poll, will begin its 74th season Nov. 2 against Carver College at The Barn. It will be the 18th consecutive season that the Gold Rush open at home, and the XU men will attempt to win their opener for the 16th straight season.

XU's men will play six of their first eight regular-season games at home and another stretch Jan. 10-Feb. 1 with eight of nine at The Barn. But during that early period — immediately after the Carver game — the Gold Rush will travel to play NCAA D-I opponents Western Kentucky on Nov. 5 and Vanderbilt on Nov. 7. It will be the third straight season that Xavier visits the Hilltoppers and the first time that the Rush meet an SEC team in an exhibition.

The schedule contains the annual Gulf Coast Athletic Conference home-and-away matchups with city rivals SUNO and Dillard — Dillard will visit Xavier on Jan. 28 for the Crosstown Classic, part of Rush/Nuggets Alumni Weekend — and there will be two games apiece against Loyola and the University of New Orleans.

UNO, still classified as Division I but transitioning to NCAA Division II, will play host to the Gold Rush on Jan. 4 and visit The Barn on Feb. 1. It will be the first time that XU and UNO meet in the regular season since Feb. 11, 1976, and it will be the Privateers' second visit to The Barn — the first was on Feb. 15, 1974.

Loyola will visit Xavier on Nov. 29 and play host to the Gold Rush on Dec. 17.

For the second straight season there will be consecutive games against longtime rival Wiley, starting with a Nov. 19 matchup during Xavier's homecoming. The Rush also will play home-and-away non-conference series with Mobile, St. Thomas (Fla.) and William Carey. Xavier will play twice in south Florida between Christmas and New Year's Day for the third straight season.

The GCAC schedule will include Xavier's first-ever league matchups with Edward Waters and Fisk, which joined the league in 2010, and with Philander Smith, which joined in July. Talladega, the other GCAC school to join in July, returns after a three-year stint from 1999-2002. The conference will employ its traditional double round-robin scheduling after an unbalanced league schedule last season. Edward Waters and Jacksonville, Fla., will play host to the GCAC Tournament for the second straight year.

The GCAC will crown a regular-season and tournament champion, and the latter will receive an automatic bid to the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship at Kansas City, Mo. Xavier qualified for nationals last season as an at-large selection and reached the tournament for the fifth time in seven seasons.

2011-12 Xavier University Men's Basketball Schedule Click here for an alternative link to the basketball schedule Nov. 2 (Wed.):  CARVER, 7 p.m. Nov. 5 (Sat.):  at Western Kentucky, 7:30 p.m. (exhibition) Nov. 7 (Mon.):  at Vanderbilt, 7 p.m. (exhibition) Nov. 11 (Fri.):  ST. THOMAS (FLA.), 7 p.m. Nov. 14 (Mon.):  at Mobile, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 19 (Sat.):  WILEY (DH), 2 p.m. (Homecoming) Nov. 26 (Sat.):  at Wiley, 2 p.m. Nov. 29 (Tue.):  LOYOLA (DH), 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3 (Sat.):  CONCORDIA (ALA.) (DH), 4 p.m. Dec. 6 (Tue.):  MOBILE, 7 p.m. Dec. 13 (Tue.):  at William Carey, 7 p.m. Dec. 17 (Sat.):  at Loyola (DH), 4 p.m. Dec. 28 (Wed.):  Florida Memorial, 5 p.m. EST (St. Thomas Classic) Dec. 29 (Thu.):  at St. Thomas (Fla.), 7 p.m. EST (St. Thomas Classic) Jan. 4 (Wed.):  at New Orleans, 7 p.m. Jan. 7 (Sat.):  • at Philander Smith, noon Jan. 10 (Tue.):  • SUNO (DH), 7:30 p.m. Jan. 13 (Fri.):  • EDWARD WATERS (DH), 7:30 p.m. Jan. 14 (Sat.):  • FISK (DH), 7 p.m. Jan. 16 (Mon.):  • PHILANDER SMITH (DH), 7 p.m. Jan. 21 (Sat.):  • TALLADEGA (DH), 7 p.m. Jan. 23 (Mon.):  • at Tougaloo, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 28 (Sat.):  • DILLARD (DH), 7 p.m. (Crosstown Classic and Rush/Nuggets Alumni Weekend) Jan. 30 (Mon.):  WILLIAM CAREY, 7 p.m. Feb. 1 (Wed.):  NEW ORLEANS, 7 p.m. Feb. 6 (Mon.):  • at SUNO, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 11 (Sat.):  • at Talladega, 7 p.m. Feb. 13 (Mon.):  • TOUGALOO, 7:30 p.m. (Senior Night) Feb. 18 (Sat.):  • at Edward Waters, 4 p.m. EST Feb. 20 (Mon.):  • at Fisk, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 25 (Sat.):  • at Dillard, 7 p.m. (Allstate Sugar Bowl Bleu Devil Classic) March 1-3 (Thu.-Sat):  GCAC Tournament, Jacksonville, Fla. March 14-20 (Wed.-Tue.):  Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship, Kansas City, Mo. Home games in (in bold and CAPITAL LETTERS) are played at The Barn (capacity 1,300), Xavier University campus, New Orleans • Gulf Coast Athletic Conference game DH — doubleheader with Xavier's women TBA — To be announced All times are Central except where noted Call (504) 520-7329 for ticket information

Ed Cassiere

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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