DePaul @ Xavier preview
Cintas Center
Last Meeting ( Jan 11, 2025 ) Xavier 77, DePaul 63
Dante Maddox Jr. will look to continue his hot hand on Saturday as Xavier hosts DePaul in a Big East Conference contest in Cincinnati.
The shooting guard matched career highs in points (26) and 3-point field goals (six) to lead the Musketeers (15-10, 7-7) past Providence in a pivotal 91-82 road win on Wednesday.
It was the second-straight 20-point game for Maddox following a 24-point performance in a road loss to Villanova on Sunday.
Xavier has alternated wins and losses for the last seven games while trying to stay in the race for one of the five bye spots in the Big East tournament.
After starting the season under new coach Chris Holtmann by winning eight of 10 games, DePaul (11-14, 2-12) has once again struggled in conference play.
Xavier defeated DePaul 77-63 on Jan. 11 in Chicago behind 20 points and 10 rebounds from Zach Freemantle.
"Chris Holtmann is doing a great job with their program, and they're a dangerous team," Xavier coach Sean Miller said. "They played everybody tough. We were in a tough game with them in Chicago, and it was a good win for us on the road in Chicago. And now we have to be as ready as we possibly can be. We play them at noon (ET) on Saturday. It's gonna be a very quick turnaround."
The Blue Demons were dealt a blow earlier this month when starting guard Conor Enright underwent season-ending shoulder surgery. Adding to that, NJ Benson left with an injury in Tuesday's 68-58 loss at No. 18 Marquette and did not return.
CJ Gunn led DePaul with 14 points as the Blue Demons fell to the Golden Eagles, despite making a run to cut a 16-point lead down to eight with two minutes remaining.
"So it's been a couple games here where we're struggling a little bit with playmaking with Conor out," Holtmann said. "So we've got to figure those things out here quickly. (I was) proud of what our guys were able to do to get it manageable in the last five minutes and give ourselves a chance."
--Field Level Media