XU Gold Rush to play 6 of first 7 games in brand new arena

Convocation Academic Center construction update

NEW ORLEANS — The opening of the Convocation Academic Center and six appearances there in the first seven games are among the highlights of the 2012-13 Xavier University of Louisiana men's basketball schedule.
    

Tenth-year head coach Dannton Jackson announced the schedule Wednesday.
    

Xavier — 23-9 last season, the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season co-champion and No. 24 in the final NAIA Division I coaches poll — will begin its 75th season Nov. 3 in the CAC against Morehouse. Tip-off will be 1 p.m., and tailgating and a ribbon-cutting will precede the game.
    

 It will be the 19th consecutive season that the Gold Rush open at home, and the XU men will attempt to win their opener for the 17th straight season.

Construction of the new arena is scheduled to be completed near the end of October. The CAC will replace The Barn, which opened in 1937 and seats 1,300. The Convocation Academic Center's seating capacity for athletic events will be 3,817. Capacity for other events, such as concerts, will be 4,500.

The XU-Morehouse game will be followed by a 3 p.m. women's game between Johnson & Wales (Fla.) and Xavier. The Gold Nuggets' complete schedule is expected to be announced by the end of the week.
    

The Gold Rush will play at home the next day (Nov. 4) against another Atlanta school, Carver College, then play host to Jarvis Christian, Tuskegee and Spring Hill in the Big Easy Classic on Nov. 9-10. Xavier will play Jarvis Christian on Nov. 9 and Tuskegee on Nov. 10. Other home opponents in the opening month will be Wiley on Nov. 17 in the homecoming doubleheader, William Carey on Nov. 19 and Mobile on Nov. 27.
    

Morehouse and Tuskegee are NCAA Division II members whose series with Xavier date to the mid-1930s, when all were members of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Both will play Xavier for the first time since the 2002-03 season.
    

Xavier will travel to Tennessee for the Memphis HBCU Classic on Thanksgiving weekend and to Mobile, Ala., for the Spring Hill Classic on Dec. 14-15. The Gold Rush's opening opponent in Mobile will be Martin Methodist, No. 9 in the final NAIA coaches poll last season.
    

First-time XU opponents will be Harris-Stowe on Nov. 23 in Memphis and Voorhees on Dec. 15 in Mobile.
    

The Gold Rush will play city rival Loyola, a 20-game winner last season and the Southern States Athletic Conference West Division champion, Nov. 13 at Loyola and Dec. 5 at the CAC. City and GCAC rival SUNO will visit the XU arena on Jan. 14 and play host to the Rush on Feb. 16. Xavier's other GCAC city rival, Dillard, will play host to the Rush on Jan. 26 and visit Xavier in the final regular-season game Feb. 23.
    

The GCAC changed its times this season for Saturday conference doubleheaders. After a longtime policy of 5 and 7 p.m. tip-offs, Saturday start times will be 3 p.m. for women's games and 5 p.m. for men's. The GCAC allows changes to starting times by mutual agreement of the competing schools, and four times this season the Gold Rush will play the opening game in conference doubleheaders — Jan. 19 at home against Philander Smith, Jan. 21 at home against Fisk, Feb. 2 at home against Talladega and Feb. 9 at Philander Smith.
    
After two years in Jacksonville, Fla., the GCAC Tournament will be played Feb. 28-March 2 in Little Rock, Ark. The tournament winner will earn 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 second consecutive year and the sixth time in eight seasons.

2012-13 Xavier University Men's Basketball Schedule Click here for an additional link to the basketball scheduleAll times are subject to change Nov. 3 (Sat.):  MOREHOUSE (DH), 1 p.m. Nov. 4 (Sun.):  CARVER, 2 p.m. Nov. 9 (Fri.):  JARVIS CHRISTIAN, 6 p.m. (Big Easy Classic) Nov. 10 (Sat.):  TUSKEGEE, 6 p.m. (Big Easy Classic) Nov. 13 (Tue.):  at Loyola, 7 p.m. Nov. 17 (Sat.):  WILEY (DH), 2 p.m. (Homecoming) Nov. 19 (Mon.):  WILLIAM CAREY (DH), 7:30 p.m. Nov. 23 (Fri.):  Harris-Stowe, 4 p.m. (Memphis HBCU Classic) Nov. 24 (Sat.)  Texas College, 4 p.m. (Memphis HBCU Classic) Nov. 27 (Tue.):  MOBILE (DH), 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5 (Wed.):  LOYOLA (DH), 7:30 p.m. Dec. 14 (Fri.):  Martin Methodist, 5 p.m. (Spring Hill Classic) Dec. 15 (Sat.)  Voorhees, 3 p.m. (Spring Hill Classic) Dec. 18 (Tue.):  at William Carey, 6 p.m. Dec. 31 (Mon.):  at Belhaven, 2 p.m. Jan. 5 (Sat.):  • at Edward Waters (DH), 5 p.m. EST Jan. 7 (Mon.):  • at Talladega (DH), 7 p.m. Jan. 12 (Sat.):  • TOUGALOO (DH), 5 p.m. Jan. 14 (Mon.):  • SUNO (DH), 7:30 p.m. Jan. 19 (Sat.):  • PHILANDER SMITH (DH), noon Jan. 21 (Mon.):  • FISK (DH), 1 p.m. Jan. 26 (Sat.):  • at Dillard (DH), 7 p.m. Jan. 28 (Mon.):  at Mobile (DH), 7:30 p.m. Feb. 2 (Sat.):  • TALLADEGA (DH), noon Feb. 4 (Mon.):  • EDWARD WATERS (DH), 7:30 p.m. Feb. 9 (Sat.):  • at Philander Smith (DH), noon Feb. 11 (Mon.):  • at Fisk (DH), 7:30 p.m. Feb. 16 (Sat.):  • at SUNO (DH), 4 p.m. Feb. 18 (Mon.):  • at Tougaloo (DH), 7:30 p.m. Feb. 23 (Sat.):  • DILLARD (DH), 5 p.m. (Crosstown Classic, Senior Day and Rush/Nuggets Alumni Weekend) Feb. 28-March 2 (Thu.-Sat):  GCAC Tournament, Little Rock, Ark. March 13-19 (Wed.-Tue.):  Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship, Kansas City, Mo. Home games in (in bold and CAPITAL LETTERS) are played at the Convocation Academic Center (capacity 3,817), 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

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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