CINCINNATI, OH – Siena Basketball begins play in the Fort Myers Tip-Off when the Saints battle BIG EAST foe Xavier in a campus site game Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Cintas Center.
 
Connor Onion and LaPhonso Ellis have the call of the nationally televised broadcast on FS1, which can be viewed in the Capital Region on Spectrum channel 400, or online by clicking the corresponding link. Ian Unsworth and former Saint Conner Fenlon '12 will have the radio call of the game locally in the Capital Region on JAMZ 96.3 FM, with pregame coverage beginning at 6 p.m.
 
Tonight begins a three-game stretch for Siena (3-1) in the Fort Myers Tip-Off, which continues with a pair of Palms Division contests next week in Florida. The Saints will face a second straight Buckeye State foe when they take on Miami (Ohio) next Monday, before squaring off with either Jacksonville or Mercer the following day.
 
Siena returns to Ohio for the first time since its most recent matchup with Xavier (4-0) five years ago at the Cintas Center. Although the Saints are just 4-13 all-time in the Buckeye State, two of those victories were amongst the most significant in program history. Siena defeated Alcorn State in an NCAA Tournament First Four game in 2002, and in-state power Ohio State in the First Round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, with both games played in Dayton.
 
This evening will also serve as a homecoming of sorts for newcomer Reid Ducharme, who appeared in five games as a true freshman at Xavier last year. Ducharme has started each of his first four games at Siena, averaging 3.8 points in 15.3 minutes.
 
Xavier has won four straight games at the Cintas Center to kick off its 2024-25 campaign, and is third amongst teams also receiving votes in this week's Associated Press Top-25 Poll. Predicted to finish third out of 11 teams according to the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Musketeers are led by Preseason All-BIG EAST Second Team selections Zach Freemantle and Dayvion McKnight, and Third Team pick Ryan Conwell, who leads the BIG EAST and ranks 12^th nationally averaging 4.0 threes. As a team, Xavier enters play ranked sixth nationally in free throw percentage (.830), eighth in both assists (21.3) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.18), and 16^th in three-point field goal percentage (.429).
 
Siena is a respectable 20-40 (.333) all-time vs. the 11 programs which currently comprise the high-major BIG EAST Conference. The Saints snapped an 11-game losing streak vs. current BIG EAST programs with a 60-55 triumph over Seton Hall in the ESPN Events Invitational on Nov. 27, 2022, before being edged by Georgetown 75-68 just over a week later in Washington, DC, in the program's most recent matchup with a BIG EAST foe.