GAME NOTES: The Xavier Musketeers host the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks on Friday in the season opener for both programs.

Xavier was picked as a 'First Four' team in the 2014 NCAA Tournament following another 20-win campaign and immediately lost to NC State.

The Musketeers, who went 10-8 in their first year in Big East play, have their work cut out for them considering only seniors Matt Stainbrook and Dee Davis return as starters. Semaj Christon (17.0 ppg, 142 assists) opted to pursue a pro career, Justin Martin (11.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg) transferred to SMU and Isaiah Philmore (9.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg) graduated.

Stainbrook, who has been selected for the preseason All-Big East First Team, is someone who could turn in a double-double on almost any night after putting up 10.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game last year, especially now that he has more room to flex his muscles in the paint. Davis (7.7 ppg), who shot just 39.8 percent from the floor, can make up for that lackluster effort as long as he continues to feed teammates in the same manner he did a year ago when he led Xavier in assists with 149, while turning the ball over just 62 times.

The Lumberjacks finished in a tie for second place in the Big Sky last season despite posting an overall record of 15-17.

Four starters return with the only loss being Max Jacobsen, who was one of the team's better interior performers. Senior guard Quinton Upshur will get most of the attention whenever and wherever he is on the floor, after pacing the group in scoring (15.3 ppg) and showing hands quick enough to make 52 steals in 32 games. However, it would not hurt for Upshur to be more giving with his teammates, seeing as how he had just 27 assists and the team was next-to-last in the league with a mere 10.8 apg (305th nationally). Fellow guard Aaseem Dixon could help to supplement the passing duties since he was second on the team with 70 dishes, to go along with 11.2 ppg. Between he and Upshur, they were responsible for 130 of the squad's 170 3-point baskets.

Xavier comes in having won 24 straight regular season openers, and while NAU brings back a lot of talent from last year's squad, the Musketeers should have enough to keep that streak alive.