No. 18 Xavier opened the Charleston Classic with its most complete game of the season Thursday as the new and old meshed seamlessly.

The Musketeers (5-0) will look to take that momentum into a second-round tournament matchup against Connecticut on Friday.

Xavier shot 47.4 percent from the field, made nine 3-pointers and had career-high scoring games from graduate transfers Bryce Moore and Jason Carter in a 73-51 victory over Towson while also limiting Towson to 30.5 percent shooting from the field.

"Overall it was probably the best performance we've had in this young season," coach Travis Steele said on the Musketeers' radio network. "Obviously there are a lot of areas we need to improve on. We have to be able to put together 40 minutes.

"We're heading in the right direction, for sure."

The Huskies (3-1) got 16 points and 10 rebounds from senior Christian Vital and career-best efforts from sophomore Brendan Adams and heralded freshman James Bouknight while beating perimeter-oriented Buffalo 79-68. The Bulls, who were second in Division I with 13 3-pointers a game, made only 5-of-24, 20.8 percent.

Four Musketeers scored in double figures against Towson, while leading scorer Naji Marshall -- nine points, nine rebounds, five assists -- left that job to others.

Carter had a season-high 13 points, and Moore had season highs with 12 points and three 3-pointers. Paul Scruggs filled the box score with 11 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals.

"It opens up the game when you have a guy like that," Steele said of Moore. "Our guys found him; they were looking for him. On the defensive end, he makes all the toughness plays."

Moore has made a 3-pointer in each of the first five games while playing as the first guard off the bench behind Scruggs and senior Quentin Goodin. Moore, 6-foot-3, made 64 3-pointers in 2017-18 at Western Michigan, shooting 39.0 percent from distance.

"The first four games were all just learning each," said Moore, who played three seasons at Western Michigan before sitting out last season as an injury redshirt.

"We are not even playing our best basketball. You don't want to be your best right now. You want to be your best in March. We just want to keep getting better each and every day."

Adams had a career-high 20 points while playing 25 minutes against Buffalo after starting point guard Alterique Gilbert suffered a left ankle injury with six minutes remaining in the first half and did not play the rest of the way. Gilbert, averaging 12.7 points and 3.7 assists game, did not score in 11 minutes.

"The success of this team is so critical for the guys like Brendan to play well, plus the senior guards," UConn coach Danny Hurley said on his postgame radio show.

Bouknight had eight points and six rebounds in 11 minutes. He played his first game after sitting out the first three while serving a suspension imposed by Hurley after an incident in September in which Bouknight was cited for driving without a license and driving too fast for conditions.

"That was a tough game to throw him into," Hurley said. "You could see he's going to be a major, major player here. Fans are going to see more minutes from him, I promise."

--Field Level Media