Xavier Tops DePaul in the BIG EAST Tournament First Round

Wednesday, March 8

New York, N.Y.

9:30 p.m.

Xavier University

20-12

DePaul

9-23

DePAUL

XAVIER

Xavier Tops DePaul in the BIG EAST Tournament First Round

03.09.17 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Quotes Season Stats (PDF)

Musketeers move on to face No. 2 seed Butler tomorrow at 7 PM

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

NEW YORK - A strong second half allowed the seventh-seeded Xavier Musketeers to pull away from No. 10 seed DePaul in the opening round of the BIG EAST Tournament. The Musketeers had three double-digit efforts to help Xavier, now 20-12 on the season, advance to the quarterfinals to face off with Butler.

NOTABLE

Trevon Bluiett led the Musketeers with 17 points, all scored in the second half. Bluiett also led the Musketeers with nine rebounds.

J.P. Macura finished with 13 points, and team-high six assists and three steals.

Quentin Goodin also finished with 13 points, hitting 6-of-8 from the floor.

Sean O'Mara finished a perfect 3-of-3 from the floor, leading the Musketeers on offense in the first half.

Xavier finished with a 48-36 advantage on points in the paint after trailing DU 24-18 down low in the first half.

The Musketeers hit the 20-win mark for the fourth-straight season, and in 11 of the last 12 seasons.

FIRST HALF

After missing its first five shots from the floor, Xavier hit on four of it's next five to go ahead 9-6, matching Xavier's largest lead of the half. Gaston scored five points in six minute early for Musketeers before being limited by a pair of fouls for the rest of the first half.

The two teams traded one-possession leads until the final four minutes of the when DePaul pushed ahead by as many as six before a Macura three at the buzzer cut the Blue Demon lead to one, 31-30, at the break.

The Musketeers shot nearly 43 percent from the floor overall in the first 20 minutes, hitting on 9-of-13 two-point field goals.

With Gaston's minutes limited, Sean O'Mara came in off the bench, going 3-of-3 from the floor and finishing the first half with a team-high eight points.

Xavier committed eight first half turnovers to seven for DePaul, but DU outscored the Musketeers 10-5 on points off miscues.

Each team grabbed 18 rebounds, with both grabbing eight off the offensive glass. Xavier's effort was led by three a piece for Gaston and O'Mara.

SECOND HALF

The Musketeers forced a pair of DePaul turnovers early in the second period, fueling a 10-2 run to put the Musketeers ahead 42-36, the first time X led by multiple possessions in the game. During that stretch, Xavier went 5-of-5 from the floor.

A Blue Demon three cut the lead to three, but Xavier outscored the Blue Demons 16-5 over the next five minutes to push the lead out to 14, 58-44, with 10 minutes to play.

Xavier used DePaul turnovers to build its advantage, turning seven second half miscues into 12 points.

DePaul would get as close as eight in the final five minutes of the game before the Musketeers secured the 75-64 win.

Trevon Bluiett scored all of his team-high 17 points in the second half, hitting on 50 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes.

The Musketeers hit 54.8 from the floor, including 14-of-22 on two point field goals.

DePaul owned a 21-18 advantage on the boards in the second half, with the Musketeers' led by Bluiett's seven rebounds.

UP NEXT

The Musketeers move on to the BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinals, where Xavier faces off with the No. 2 seeded Butler. The Bulldogs and the Musketeers face off at 7:00 p.m. on FS1.

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