On December 1, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Saint Francis Red Flash guard Skylar Wicks (8) dribbles against the Xavier Musketeers in the first half at Cintas Center - and for 20 unforgettable minutes, a mid-major guard turned a routine buy game into a personal coming-out party. Wicks came off the bench and torched the Musketeers for 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting. He hit 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, grabbed three rebounds, and dished out two assists in roughly 24 minutes.
Twelve of those 20 points arrived before halftime. For a stretch, the Philadelphia-area transfer was the best player on a floor stocked with Big East talent. Xavier still led 55-44 at the break. But Wicks was the reason the Red Flash hung around as long as they did. That first-half dribble-drive you see in the headline photo? That was the spark - a mid-major guard telling a packed Big East arena, "Not so fast."
📊 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting in roughly 24 minutes off the bench - Wicks posted one of his highest-scoring early-season performances in a Red Flash uniform, and he did it against Big East competition on the road.
The Cintas Center crowd came for a tune-up. What it got instead was a legit basketball fight, and No. 8 in red was swinging first.
Xavier's Firepower Was Simply Too Much
Swain's Career Night Steals the Headlines
Let's give the Musketeers their flowers, because they earned them. Xavier won this one 105-87, and that 105-point total was a season high for the program. Dailyn Swain exploded for a career-high 23 points. Ryan Conwell poured in 19 more. And Zach Freemantle did Zach Freemantle things - a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double that reminded everyone why he's one of the toughest interior matchups in the Big East.
Table: Xavier Musketeers - Top Performers vs. Saint Francis (Dec 1, 2025)
| Player | Points | Rebounds | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dailyn Swain | 23 | - | Career high |
| Ryan Conwell | 19 | - | Efficient scoring night |
| Zach Freemantle | 14 | 11 | Double-double |
| Team total | 105 | - | Season high |
The Musketeers treated their non-conference home slate like the tune-up it was supposed to be - and against an NEC opponent on a buy game, that's exactly the script. But Wicks and the Red Flash made them earn every bit of that 18-point margin. Xavier's depth and talent eventually wore Saint Francis down across the full 40 minutes, but the first half was a real, honest-to-goodness basketball scrap.
📊 Xavier's 105 points were a season high - The Musketeers' firepower overwhelmed Saint Francis late, but the Red Flash kept it close for a half behind Wicks' hot hand.
What This Game Meant for Both Programs
For Xavier, it was a check-the-box win at Cintas Center - a home date, a season-high scoring output, and another building block on the early-season resume. For Saint Francis, it was a buy game with a hidden upside: a chance for a transfer guard to prove he belongs on this stage. Wicks, who joined the Red Flash for the 2025-26 season out of the Philadelphia area, seized that chance with both hands.
Games like this are how mid-major players get on the radar. And Wicks absolutely got on it. If you want a broader sense of how buy games fit into Xavier's non-conference scheduling philosophy, the Xavier athletics site keeps its full game archives, and ESPN's college basketball hub tracks box scores for matchups like this one across every conference.
Why This Photo and This Game Still Matter
The Buy-Game Breakout You Need to Remember
Here's the thing about December buy games: most of them blur together by March. This one shouldn't. Skylar Wicks' 20-point outburst at the Cintas Center stands as one of his highest-scoring early-season performances in a Red Flash uniform, and it came against a Big East defense, on the road, in front of a packed house. That's not nothing. It's the kind of line that makes NBA scouts and transfer-portal watchers do a double-take.
