Xavier Exorcises Demons

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Last season an overmatched DePaul Blue Demon squad handled the Xavier Musketeers in Chicago with a 71-68 win at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago.

This time Xavier (15-1, 3-1 Big East) boasted a #7 national ranking and now has their best record ever after 16 games at 15-1 with a 84-64 win over DePaul (6-11, 0-5 Big East).

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Trevon Bluiett scored the first nine points for Xavier enroute to 19 first half points.  He finished with a career-high 24.  Bluiett nailed a pair of 3-point shots and made three free throws after he was fouled on his third attempt.  At one point he outscored DePaul by himself at 15-8.

Bluiett also pulled down six rebounds, second to team leader Jalen Reynolds, who had seven.  Myles Davis had 14 and J.P Macura contributed 13 points.  Freshman Kaiser Gates scored a season-high 11 for the Musketeers.

"Kaiser is earning more time.  He may be the second best shooter on the team," Xavier coach Chris Mack said. "We may have to hold a game of horse to see if he is the best."

Gates from Alpharetta, Georgia is taking advantage of an injury to Edmond Sumner, who is Xavier's most promising freshman.  He scored 10 in a win against Butler but none at St. John despite logging 12 minutes in each game. He played 16 minutes against DePaul.

DePaul senior Myke Henry, who led the Blue Demons with 16 points and eight rebounds, credited Xavier's freshman with being the difference between the Musketeers tonight and the team that dropped the game to DePaul last year.

"They had a freshman come in a play with a lot of energy," Henry said.  "We didn't play well. The coaches prepared us for their 1-3-1 zone but we didn't execute.

Mack passed Skip Prosser to move into second place all-time with 149 wins.  Xavier improved to 210-30 all-time at the Cintas Center.