Bluiett's Double-Double Leads Musketeers to 79-65 Win at DePaul

Saturday, March 4

Chicago, Ill.

2 p.m.

Xavier University

19-12, 9-9

DePaul

9-22, 2-16

Xavier

DePaul

Bluiett's Double-Double Leads Musketeers to 79-65 Win at DePaul

03.04.17 | Men's Basketball

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Xavier closes out regular season at 19-12, 9-9 in BIG EAST play

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CHICAGO - A double-double for Trevon Bluiett helped the Musketeers close out the regular season with a win, topping DePaul 79-65 at Allstate Arena on Saturday. Xavier moves to 19-12 overall and 9-9 in conference play as the Musketeers move into postseason play as the No. 7 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament.

NOTABLE

Bluiett led the Musketeers with 24 points and 10 rebounds, his third double-double of the season and first since coming back from an injury to his leg.

Malcolm Bernard finished with 13 points, matching his Xavier career-high for a third-straight game.

J.P. Macura added nine and Tyrique Jones finished with eight points after going 3-of-3 from the floor in the second half.

RaShid Gaston also finished with eight on 100 percent shooting from the floor.

Xavier owned a 39-33 advantage on the boards overall, and 15-10 advantage on offensive rebounds, which the Musketeers used to outscore the Blue Demons 19-10 on second-chance points.

The Musketeers turned 19 Blue Demon turnovers into 18 points, while allowing only five points off nine turnovers, the lowest turnover total since committing only eight in the win at Creighton on February 4.

The win moves Xavier to 9-9 in BIG EAST play to close out the season, moving Xavier's nation-best active streak of finishing at .500 or better in conference play (MCC, Atlantic 10 and BIG EAST) to 35 straight seasons.

Today's game at Allstate Arena marked the final regular season home game in the venue for the DePaul Blue Demons.

BACK-AND-FORTH BATTLE

The Blue Demons jumped out to a 9-0 lead as the Musketeers missed the first five shots from the floor. After a 6-2 run for the Musketeers to cut the deficit down to five, DePaul pushed its lead to as many as 11.

Xavier responded with a 12-3 run, hitting four straight three pointers, each coming from a different Musketeer, to cut the lead down to two, 20-18, with eight minutes before halftime.

A fifth straight three pointer, this one from Goodin, pushed the run to 15-3 and put the Musketeers ahead 21-20. Xavier used three DU turnovers to push the lead out to four 25-21 with six minutes left in the half.

Five straight missed field goals for Xavier helped DU go on 7-0 run to retake the lead, 28-25 with less than three to play in the half.

Six points for Gaston in the final 2:30 of the half helped the Musketeers push out to its largest advantage of the half, 33-28, before a basket for DePaul sent the teams to the locker room with Xavier leading, 33-30.

After starting 0-of-6 from outside to start the game, Xavier finished the half hitting five of its final 11 shots from outside.

Xavier committed five turnovers to eight for DePaul, but the Musketeers capitalized on those miscues, turning those turnovers into 12 points, to just two points off turnovers for DePaul.

Goodin and Bluiett each had seven to lead the Musketeers in the first half.

Xavier owned a 22-19 advantage on the boards in the first half, led by eight for Bluiett.

XAVIER PULLS AWAY LATE

Seven points for Jones in the first five minutes of the second half helped the Musketeers keep pace with the Blue Devils, as the two teams exchanged one-possession leads for the first seven minutes of the half.

After DU took a 45-44 lead at the 13 minute mark, Xavier outscored the Blue Demons 13-4 over the next four minutes, a spurt capped by a three for Bluiett to bring his total for the run to seven. The outburst put Xavier up by eight, 57-49, the first time the Musketeers led by more than two possessions in the game.

The Musketeers scored on seven of eight possessions to take a 10 point lead, 65-55, with under six minutes to play.

DePaul would cut the lead down to six, 67-61, in the final 10 minutes of the game, but a 10-0 run by the Musketeers extended the lead out to 16 in the final minute of the game before winning 79-65.

Bluiett led the Musketeers with 17 second-half points. Bernard added 10 on 3-of-3 shooting from the floor in the final 20 minutes, including hitting a pair of outside looks.

Xavier owned a 17-14 advantage on the boards. The Musketeers turned a 7-4 advantage on offensive boards into an 11-3 advantage on second-chance points in the second half.

UP NEXT

Xavier heads to New York for the BIG EAST Tournament, where the No. 7 seed Musketeers will face off against DePaul, the 10-seed, again in the opening round on Wednesday, March 8. Tip off is set for 9:30 P.M. on FS1.