Xavier Exorcises Demons With Second Half Comeback

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Xavier coach Chris Mack, arrived late for the postgame press conference by greeting the 1989-90 and 1964-65 teams and former coach Pete Gillen.

"Let me set the record straight. I wanted to imitate my team and not show up on time," Mack quipped.

The Xavier Musketeers have developed a disturbing habit of starting slowly before mounting a rally in the second half.

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Xaviers 89-76 win over the Blue Demons of DePaul University followed that script.

The Blue Demons were on fire from 3-point range in the first half, building a 50-42 lead, making 11 of 19 from long range.

To make matters worse the half ended with Xavier's Jalen Reynolds committing a technical foul giving DePaul a 10-point lead before the second half clock started.

"We woke up. They were playing better than us and harder than us," today's hero Myles Davis said.  "We have to get better and come out stronger with more energy."

The Musketeers trailed Providence by 12 on the road before forcing overtime in a 69-66 loss.  They have trailed at the half in each of its last five games.

Myles Davis scored a career-high 25 while Xavier (17-7, 4-4 Big East) while reversing the 3-point trend for DePaul with a 2-for-9 mark. Davis added a career-high eight rebounds to boot.

"They were too comfortable," Myles Davis said.  "We had to take them out of their comfort zone."

Myles Davis only make one 3-point shot but scored off the dribble more than he has in the past.

"If you told me he would have 25 points and went 1-for-6 from 3-point range, I wouldn't have believed you," Mack said.  "It was by far his best game in a Xavier uniform."

Freshman Trevon Bluiett added 21 points and Matt Stainbrook scored 17 for Xavier.  "He is a matchup problem," DePaul coach Oliver Purnell said.  "He can shoot the three and drive to the basket.  He has good size.  That's why he's having such a good year and is probably the Rookie of the Year.

"Trevon played with a lot more confidence than he has in the last four or five games," Mack said.

DePaul (11-10, 5-3 Big East) had four players in double figures; Tommy Hamilton 15, Aaron Simpson 14, a career high, Myke Henry 13 and Darrick Wood 11.  Xavier did manage to hold DePaul's leading scorer to his lowest point total of the season, six.

The Blue Demons scored just 24 points after the second half clock started.  Their 50 first-half points were the most they'd scored in an opening half all season

"They are tough to guard," Mack said.  "They can stretch the floor at all five positions.  We played man-to-man 95 percent of the time in the second half.  We put fewer bigs on the floor that let us guard them outside. We made them miss in the second half.  In the first half we just hoped they missed.  That's not reallly playing defense."

Xavier took care of the basketball with a season-low five for the game.

"I thought our transition defense let us down," Purnell said.  "We didn't go to the basket as much as we should have."