COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Men’s Basketball will square off with Big East power Xavier next season at Mizzou Arena on Dec. 18, 2018, as announced by the programs on Thursday. The Tigers are scheduled to travel to Cincinnati, Ohio, in a return trip on Nov. 12, 2019.

The two schools will meet for the eighth and ninth teams in their program histories. Mizzou and Xavier faced each other three times in three seasons from 2014-16, including a home-and-home series in 2014 and 2015 and most recently, an overtime thriller in the opening round of the 2016 Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

“We’re always searching for ways to put together a nonconference slate that challenges us and helps spread the Mizzou brand, and this series will do that,” head coach Cuonzo Martin said. “The matchups will give us an opportunity to compete, improve and grow as a group heading in Southeastern Conference play.”

Xavier leads the all-time series 5-2, but the Tigers are 1-1 against the Musketeers at Mizzou Arena. Four of the seven meetings in the all-time series have been decided by single digits, including the last two.

The 2018-19 matchup in Columbia, Mo., will feature a pair of teams who won at least 20 games and made the NCAA Tournament a season ago. The Musketeers earned a No. 1 seed while the Tigers secured a No. 8 seed