Xavier Rush schedule: exhibition at LSU, GCAC tourney in N.O.

 
NEW ORLEANS — The 2013-14 Xavier University of Louisiana men's basketball schedule includes a first-time visit to LSU and a chance for XU fans to stay home and watch the Gold Rush compete for the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament championship.
     
Dannton Jackson, in his 11th season as head coach of the Gold Rush, announced Thursday the schedule, which includes 15-of-29 regular season games in the Convocation Center.
      
Xavier will open its 76th season at 7 p.m. on Nov. 1 against Carver College of Atlanta in the Convocation Center. It will be the 20th consecutive season that the Gold Rush open at home, and the XU men will attempt to win their opener for the 18th straight season.
     
 Five days later, on Nov. 6, the Gold Rush will visit LSU in a 7 p.m. exhibition game. It will be the third time in eight seasons that the XU men play an exhibition against an SEC opponent. They visited Arkansas in 2006 and Vanderbilt in 2011.
      
The GCAC selected New Orleans as the host city for its 2014 men's and women's basketball tournaments. Xavier, one of three GCAC members from New Orleans, is committed to a role in the event, which will be played during the first full week of March. Venues, dates and times will be announced later.


      
Additional schedule highlights include:

     •  The Crosstown Classic on Jan. 25 against longtime HBCU, city and GCAC rival Dillard.
     •  A rematch with Faulkner, which defeated Xavier in the opening round of last season's Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship. The Eagles and Gold Rush will play Dec. 19 in Montgomery, Ala.
     •  Games against NCAA Division II opponents Albany State (Nov. 9 at Xavier) and LeMoyne-Owen (Nov. 30 in Memphis, Tenn.)
     •  Home-and-away matchups with former GCAC rivals Loyola, Belhaven, Mobile, Spring Hill and William Carey.
     •  Seven of the first 10 regular-season games at home and six consecutive home games in January.
     •  Senior Day on Feb. 22 against Tougaloo.
       
Xavier will begin its 32nd GCAC schedule Jan. 4 at Fisk, then visit first-year GCAC member Voorhees two days later. The first conference home game will be Jan. 11 against city rival SUNO.
     
Still to be determined is which home contest will be the NABC Suits and Sneakers Game for cancer awareness and fundraising.
      
It will be the second season of basketball in the Convocation Center, a $25 million facility which seats nearly 4,000. The Gold Rush were 12-3 in the building last season, including victories against Morehouse, Tuskegee, Mobile, SUNO, Philander Smith and Dillard.
     
The GCAC Tournament men's champion 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 third consecutive year and the seventh time in nine seasons. The Gold Rush were 24-8 overall in 2012-13 and 11-3 in the GCAC to share the regular-season title with Philander Smith. Xavier ranked 24th in the NAIA Division I postseason poll for the second consecutive year.

2013-14 Xavier University Men's Basketball Schedule Click here for detailed schedule information Nov. 1 (Fri.):  CARVER, 7 p.m. Nov. 6 (Wed.):  at LSU (exhibition), 7 p.m. Nov. 9 (Sat.):  ALBANY STATE (DH), 2 p.m. Nov. 11 (Mon.):  at Mobile (DH), 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14 (Thu.):  WILEY, 7 p.m. Nov. 19 (Tue.):  LOYOLA, 7 p.m. Nov. 23 (Sat.):  TEXAS COLLEGE (DH), 2 p.m. (1) Nov. 26 (Tue.):  at Wiley, 6 p.m. Nov. 30 (Sat.):  at LeMoyne-Owen, 2 p.m. Dec. 5 (Thu.):  WILLIAM CAREY (DH), 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7 (Sat.):  MOBILE, 3 p.m. Dec. 14 (Sat.):  at Loyola, 4 p.m. Dec. 17 (Tue.):  at Spring Hill, 7 p.m. Dec. 19 (Thu.):  at Faulkner, 6 p.m. Dec. 30 (Mon.):  at Belhaven, 2 p.m. Jan. 4 (Sat.):  • at Fisk (DH), 5 p.m. Jan. 6 (Mon.):  • at Voorhees (DH), 7:30 p.m. EST Jan. 11 (Sat.):  • SUNO (DH), 5 p.m. Jan. 13 (Mon.):  SPRING HILL, 7 p.m. Jan. 18 (Sat.):  • EDWARD WATERS (DH), 5 p.m. Jan. 20 (Mon.):  • TALLADEGA (DH), 7:30 p.m. Jan. 25 (Sat.):  • DILLARD (DH), 5 p.m. (2) Jan. 28 (Tue.):  BELHAVEN, 7 p.m. Feb. 1 (Sat.):  • at Tougaloo (DH), 5 p.m. Feb. 3 (Mon.):  • at Philander Smith (DH), 7:30 p.m. Feb. 8 (Sat.):  • at SUNO (DH), 5 p.m. Feb. 11 (Tue.):  at William Carey (DH), 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17 (Mon.):  • PHILANDER SMITH (DH), 7:30 p.m. Feb. 22 (Sat.):  • TOUGALOO (DH), 5 p.m. (3) March 1 (Sat.):  • at Dillard (DH), 5 p.m. TBA:  GCAC TOURNAMENT IN NEW ORLEANS, TBA March 19-25 (Wed.-Tue.):  Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship, Kansas City, Mo. Home matches (in bold and CAPITAL LETTERS) will be played at the Convocation Center (capacity 3,937), Xavier University campus, New Orleans • Gulf Coast Athletic Conference game TBA — To be announced All times are Central except where noted (DH) — doubleheader with Xavier's women (1) — Homecoming (2) — Crosstown Classic (3) — Senior Day Call (504) 520-7329 for ticket information

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA