Xavier Musketeers vs DePaul Blue Demons Match Player Stats On Dec 29, 2018

Trailing by six points with 5:12 to play, Xavier dominated the rest of the way to rally for a 74-65 victory over DePaul in both teams' Big East opener on Saturday afternoon in Chicago.

The Musketeers (9-5, 1-0) outscored the Blue Demons 19-4 down the stretch to give head coach Travis Steele the victory in his Big East debut. Sophomore forward Naji Marshall scored five of his game-high 19 points in the final five minutes and added a career-high 14 rebounds.

Graduate transfer forward Ryan Welage posted 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting from 3-point range while junior forward Tyrique Jones contributed 13 points in 22 minutes off the bench.

DePaul (8-4, 0-1), trying to win a Big East opener for just the third time since joining the league in 2006, was paced by a pair of sophomore power forwards. Paul Reed delivered a career-high 17 points with 9 rebounds before fouling out while Jaylen Butz came off the bench to add a career-high 16 points.

With DePaul busy missing six of its first seven shots, Xavier needed less than five minutes to take a 13-3 lead as Marshall, Welage and junior guard Quentin Goodin drilled 3-pointers.

Despite losing graduate transfer big man Femi Olujobi to two fouls in the opening four minutes, DePaul rallied to get within 25-22 with 8:34 left in the first half. Butz entered for Olujobi and contributed a game-high 11 points with 4 rebounds in the first half.

Though the Musketeers cooled from 3-point range - finishing 6 of 17 in the first half - they regained a 38-32 lead by the break as Goodin scored 7 points and handed out 6 assists.

DePaul took its first lead, 52-51, when Reed canned two free throws with 7:52 to play. Reed picked up his fourth foul on Xavier's ensuing possession, though, and had to take a seat as did usual leading scorer Max Strus (10 points).

That's when Blue Demons senior guard Eli Cain (14 points) orchestrated what figured to be the game's defining run when he sank two free throws, converted a conventional 3-point play, drilled a jumper with his toes on the 3-point line and triggered a fast break that led to an Olujobi layup.

That nine-point blitz over 99 seconds turned Xavier's 53-52 edge into a 61-55 DePaul lead with 5:12 to go. Xavier called a timeout and quickly picked up the pieces. Marshall started the comeback with a pair of free throws, then swished a 3-pointer with 3:39 left to give Xavier a 63-61 lead that the visitors never relinquished.

--Field Level Media