XU schedule: 17 home games, 5 games vs. NCAA D2

NEW ORLEANS — Seventeen home games, five matchups with NCAA Division II opponents and a pair of December tournaments are among the highlights of the 2015-16 Xavier University of Louisiana men's basketball schedule.

Dannton Jackson, back for his 13th season as head coach of the Gold Rush, announced the schedule Tuesday.

The XU men will play their first five regular-season games at home, and they'll have a second five-game home stand Dec. 29-Jan. 13. The Gold Rush will open the season at 7 p.m. Oct. 29 against Webber International, then play host to Carver the next evening at 6.
     
Xavier, a perennial NAIA power, will play NCAA Division II's Spring Hill at home Nov. 7, Miles at home Nov. 12, LeMoyne-Owen for homecoming Nov. 21, Clark Atlanta Nov. 27 at SUNO and LeMoyne-Owen Dec. 17 in the Magicians' JCJ Classic at Memphis, Tenn.
     
Xavier will play host to LSU-Shreveport, Fisk and Mobile in the Gold Rush Holiday Classic Dec. 29-30.
     
Additional schedule notes:

     •  LSUS, a former Gulf Coast Athletic Conference rival of Xavier, will play host to the Rush Nov. 24. It will be the teams' first meeting since LSUS left the GCAC after the 2009-10 season.
     •  Xavier will visit Southeastern Louisiana in a Nov. 4 exhibition. It will be the 14th time a Jackson-coached team faces an NCAA Division I opponent and the 12th time in an exhibition. It will be the second meeting between Xavier and SLU; the first was in the 1977-78 season.
     •  There will be nine games against 20-game winners from 2014-15: one against Concordia (Ala.) and two apiece against LSUS, William Carey, Philander Smith and Talladega. Concordia was a USCAA national semifinalist and won 17 of its last 18 games this past season. Talladega was 32-5 en route to GCAC regular-season and tournament championships, three weeks as the No. 1 team in NAIA Division I and a No. 2 postseason ranking after reaching the national semifinals. Philander Smith will visit Xavier Jan. 11, Talladega will visit Jan. 25, and William Carey will visit Feb. 11.
     •  Xavier and Auburn Montgomery (Jan. 13 at XU) will meet for the first time since the 1996-97 season.
     •  The Gold Rush, second in the GCAC regular season and tournament a year ago, will open the conference schedule Jan. 4 at home against Edward Waters.
     •  Xavier will play GCAC city rival Dillard Feb. 6 at XU in the Crosstown Classic and Feb. 27 at Dillard's Dent Hall. The first meeting will be played on Endymion Saturday, one of the prime days of Carnival. GCAC city rival SUNO will visit Feb. 15, and non-conference city rival Loyola will visit Nov. 9. Xavier also will visit Loyola (Dec. 3) and SUNO (Feb. 1).
     •  The GCAC Tournament will be March 4-6 in New Orleans. The winner will receive an automatic bid to the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship March 16-22 at Kansas City, Mo.
     
Xavier, 24-10 overall and 11-3 in the GCAC in 2014-15, returns seven lettermen, including first-team All-GCAC point guard Morris Wright, and seeks to extend a school record with a sixth consecutive bid to the NAIA's national tournament. Jackson is 273-117 at Xavier and the program's all-time winningest coach. This will be Xavier's fourth season in the Convocation Center, a $25 million facility which seats nearly 4,000.

Xavier University of Louisiana
2015-16 Men's Basketball Schedule

Oct. 29 (Thu.):  WEBBER INTERNATIONAL, 7 p.m. 
Oct. 30 (Fri.):  CARVER, 6 p.m. 
Nov. 4 (Wed.):  at Southeastern Louisiana, 7 p.m. (exhibition)
Nov. 7 (Sat.):  SPRING HILL (DH), 4 p.m.
Nov. 9 (Mon.):  LOYOLA, 7 p.m.
Nov. 12 (Thu.):  MILES, 7 p.m.
Nov. 17 (Tue.):  at Mobile, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 21 (Sat.):  LeMOYNE-OWEN (DH), 1 p.m. (Homecoming)
Nov. 24 (Tue.):  at LSU-Shreveport, 6 p.m.
Nov. 27 (Fri.):  Clark Atlanta (at SUNO), noon
Dec. 1 (Tue.):  MOBILE (DH), 7:30 p.m. 
Dec. 3 (Thu.):  at Loyola, 7 p.m.
Dec. 12 (Sat.):  at William Carey, 7 p.m.
Dec. 17 (Thu.):  at LeMoyne-Owen, 6 p.m. (JCJ Classic, Memphis, Tenn.)
Dec. 18 (Fri.):  Concordia (Ala.), 4 p.m. (JCJ Classic, Memphis, Tenn.)
Dec. 29 (Thu.):  LSU-SHREVEPORT, 5 p.m. (Gold Rush Holiday Classic)
Dec. 30 (Fri.):  FISK, 5 p.m. (Gold Rush Holiday Classic)
Jan. 4 (Mon.):  •  EDWARD WATERS (DH), 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 11 (Mon.):  •  PHILANDER SMITH (DH), 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 13 (Wed.):  AUBURN MONTGOMERY, 5 p.m.
Jan. 16 (Sat.):  •  at Talladega (DH), 5 p.m.
Jan. 18 (Mon.):  •  TOUGALOO (DH), 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 23 (Sat.):  •  at Philander Smith (DH), 4 p.m.
Jan. 25 (Mon.):  •  TALLADEGA (DH), 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 1 (Mon.):  •  at SUNO (DH), 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 6 (Sat.):  •  DILLARD (DH), 5 p.m. (Crosstown Classic)
Feb. 11 (Thu.):  WILLIAM CAREY (DH), 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 15 (Mon.):  •  SUNO (DH), 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 20 (Sat.):  •  at Edward Waters (DH), 5 p.m. EST
Feb. 22 (Mon.):  •  at Tougaloo (DH), 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 27 (Sat.):  •  at Dillard (DH), 5 p.m.
March 4-6 (Fri.-Sun.):  Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament, New Orleans
March 16-22 (Wed.-Tue.):  Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship, Kansas City, Mo.

Home games in BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS
•  Gulf Coast Athletic Conference game
(DH) Doubleheader with Xavier's women
All times are Central except where noted
Schedule is subject to change

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

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