Xavier vs. Cincinnati: 2019-20 key storylines for Crosstown Shootout

How much will homecourt advantage change the game?

The Cincinnati Bearcats don’t have much distance to travel for their next game, only three miles in fact, but they will feel far from home in what will be an extremely hostile Cintas Center. While it might seem strange to not have any sort of home crowd that close to campus, that is typically the case for these games. The 10,250-seat Cintas Center is one of the toughest places to play in the nation and is sold out for this rivalry showdown. Xavier has one of the top 5 best records in their current home arena, and always has a significant advantage when playing at home.

Since the Cintas Center opened in 2000, the Crosstown Shootout has been played there 9 times. The Musketeers have won seven of those nine matchups. Xavier excels at defending their homecourt, and their crazy fans will be a key factor if the Musketeers pull out the victory this weekend. On the season, Xavier has yet to lose a game at home this year.

For their part, the Bearcats have lost their only away game of the year. That was a 64-56 loss to Ohio State in both team’s first game of the year. While that loss is looking better and better as the Buckeyes knock off highly ranked teams, the Bearcats have still not proved anything on the road yet this year. Yes, it’s still early and they only had one opportunity. But, the Cats struggled away from home last year as well, as five of their seven total losses last year were away from home.

Were the game played across town in the Fifth Third Arena, the story may be a very different one. Cincinnati has won five of the last seven games played against Xavier on their home court. But alas, this matchup is in the Cintas Center, and the Bearcats will have a major hurdle to overcome in order to pull out the victory.