Head coach Travis Steele called Friday's exhibition win over Ferris State a good first impression for Xavier University's men's basketball team, and the challenge for Tuesday night's season-opener is to follow that up with a complete performance against Niagara (7:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1).
Xavier's experienced and deep enough to hit the ground running this season with a strong showing right out of the gate. Of course, the Musketeers will have to do that without one of their best players as Zach Freemantle's only three weeks removed from foot surgery.
That means Paul Scruggs and Nate Johnson, both fifth-year seniors, and sophomore standouts Colby Jones and Dwon Odom need to step up and shoulder the challenge of carrying this team into a new season.