National Basketball Association
DePaul 74, Xavier 62
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 9, 2019
Where: Cintas Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Officials:
# Earl Walton, # James Breeding, # Evon Burroughs
Attendance:
10242
By Field Level Media
The first 35 minutes might not have gone that well, but all DePaul needed was a dominant last five minutes at Xavier in a Big East contest on Saturday.
Senior guard Max Strus scored 17 points to lead DePaul to a 74-62 win over Xavier, its second straight victory following three straight losses.
On the other side, a frustrating season continued for Xavier, which has lost six straight games.
Xavier appeared to be in good shape to snap its skid, having a 57-53 lead with 5:28 remaining.
But it was all DePaul after that as the Blue Demons went on a 16-0 run to take a 69-57 lead with 50 seconds remaining.
The Blue Demons ended up outscoring Xavier by a margin of 21-5 over the final 5:28.
DePaul won despite a hideous performance from long distance, as the Blue Demons went just 4-of-18 from 3-point range.
But the Blue Demons made up for it by going 24-for-44 on 2-point shots (54.5 percent) and outrebounding Xavier, 40-32.
Senior Femi Olujobi and sophomore Paul Reed each scored 15 points and senior Eli Cain added 13 points to lead DePaul.
Sophomore Naji Marshall scored a game-high 22 points and sophomore Paul Scruggs added 13 points in defeat for Xavier, which shot 40.4 percent from the field overall (21-of-52) and 29.4 percent from 3-point range (5-of-17).
Xavier was also plagued by 16 turnovers.
DePaul held a 19-14 lead with 6:03 remaining in the first half, but Xavier rallied, going on an 8-2 run to take a 22-21 lead with 3:54 left until halftime.
The Musketeers eventually took a 31-30 lead into halftime.
Xavier extended its lead in the second half, taking a 47-39 lead with 12:34 remaining before DePaul made a move.
The Blue Demons went on a 10-4 run to close within 51-49 with 8:59 remaining.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| DePaul |
|
Xavier |
|
Max Strus 17 |
Scoring |
Naji Marshall 22 |
|
Devin Gage 4 |
Assists |
Naji Marshall 4 |
|
Femi Olujobi 9 |
Rebounds |
Tyrique Jones 9 |
|
Max Strus 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Quentin Goodin 7 |
|
Eli Cain 2 |
Steals |
Tyrique Jones 2 |
|
Paul Reed 3 |
Blocks |
Zach Hankins 3 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| DePaul
|
74 |
45.2 |
4-18 |
14-19 |
11 |
39 |
3 |
9 |
12 |
| Xavier
|
62 |
40.4 |
5-18 |
15-20 |
12 |
31 |
6 |
4 |
16 |
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