National Basketball Association
Xavier 75, DePaul 64
When: 9:30 PM ET, Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Officials:
# Ed Corbett, # Gary Prager, # Wally Rutecki
Attendance:
14830
By The Sports Xchange
Trevon Bluiett scored all of his team-leading 17 points in the second half to help Xavier maintain its NCAA Tournament hopes with a 75-64 victory over DePaul in a first-round Big East Conference tournament game Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Quentin Goodin and J.P. Macura each scored 13 points for seventh-seeded Xavier (20-12), which advanced to face No. 18 and second-seeded Butler on Thursday night.
It was the fourth straight 20-win season for the Musketeers.
Billy Garrett Jr. scored 16 points and Eli Cain added 15 for DePaul (9-23), the No. 10 seed.
Xavier was ranked as high as seventh this season in the Associated Press poll but a series of injuries threatened to derail its season.
The Musketeers lost dynamic sophomore point guard Edmond Sumner to a season-ending knee injury Jan. 29 and Bluiett missed two games with an ankle injury.
Xavier was without 6-foot-9 freshman center Tyrique Jones (concussion) on Wednesday.
Much like Saturday's regular-season finale at DePaul when they trailed by 11 early, the Musketeers started slow offensively Wednesday, going 1 for 11 from 3-point range.
Bluiett also struggled in the first half, going scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting.
Macura's deep 3 just before the halftime buzzer made it 31-30 in favor of DePaul at the break. Cain led the Blue Demons with 10 points in the half.
Xavier hit five straight shots including Bluiett's first basket during a 7-0 run early in the second half to go ahead 42-36.
A pair of Goodin dunks off lobs in transition from Macura helped the Musketeers build a 58-46 lead while DePaul went scoreless for nearly four minutes.
Xavier defeated the Blue Demons three times this season. The Musketeers lead the all-time series 11-9, winnng the last six.
Top Game Performances
| DePaul |
|
Xavier |
|
Billy Garrett Jr. 16 |
Scoring |
Trevon Bluiett 17 |
|
Billy Garrett Jr. 4 |
Assists |
J.P. Macura 6 |
|
Tre'Darius McCallum 11 |
Rebounds |
Trevon Bluiett 9 |
|
Eli Cain 7 |
Free Throws Made |
Trevon Bluiett 6 |
|
Brandon Cyrus 3 |
Steals |
J.P. Macura 3 |
|
Joe Hanel 1 |
Blocks |
RaShid Gaston 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| DePaul
|
64 |
39.7 |
4-17 |
10-16 |
10 |
33 |
2 |
7 |
14 |
| Xavier
|
75 |
49.2 |
6-24 |
11-19 |
16 |
30 |
3 |
5 |
11 |
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