The Xavier Musketeers were beaten twice by the Butler Bulldogs last season.
The Musketeers avenged last season with an 86-79 win.
Butler knocked off the number one team in the nation on Saturday in a 101-93 dogfight against the previously undefeated Villanova Wildcats. For the second game in a row Butler faced a top five opponent is number 5 Xavier in its home at the Cintas Center.
"Tough, tough game, that's what you get in the Big East," Xavier coach Chris Mack said.
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Xavier had Butler (12-4, 2-1) at a nine-point advantage, settling for an eight-point bulge at halftime.
It was a clean game with both teams taking good care of the basketball. Butler turned the ball over twice, Xavier just three times.
Butler shaved three points off the Xavier lead early in the second half on a 3-pointer by Paul Jorgenson. Xavier used a 15-7 run to build its lead to 13 with 13:19 left in the game. That lead extended to 14 with 9:37 left but the Bulldogs, who erased a 20-point deficit in a double overtime win over Georgetown a week ago, began to battle.
"That's what we expect from teams in this league," Mack said. "Butler will battle until the clock runs out."
Butler coach LaVall Jordan noted that 79 points should be enough to win.
"We've shown that we have the shooters to score a lot of points but we have to execute on the defensive end," Jordan said. "This is what you sign up for; to compete with the best in this league."
Xavier didn't have its best free throw shooting night but pulled away by making 13 of 17 over the last two minutes. Butler had cut the lead to five before sending the Musketeers to the foul line to get back in the game.
Kamar Baldwin led Butler with 28 points. Senior Kelan Marting produced 25 points. Jorgenson chipped in 10 points.
Bluiett led Xavier with 21 points, followed closely by J.P Macura's 20 points. Quentin Goodin had 12 points. Kaiser Gates scored 11. Sean O'Mara had 10 big points.
Bluiett passed Lenny Brown into fifth place on XU's alltime scoring list with 1,902 points.
"Sean O'Mara came in and gave us some big baskets around the rim," Mack said.
Tyrique Jones had nine rebounds to lead Xavier. Sean McDermott had 11 rebounds, including four from the offensive end.
Xavier had 12 offensive rebounds which allowed Xavier to best Butler with a 15-14 advantage on second chance points.
"Butler is so disciplined. They box out well on defense," Mack said. "Our team needs a day off."
The Musketeers have now avenged half of its 14 losses from last season in extending its winning streak to 10 games. The Musketeers hold a 39-20 all time record against the Bulldogs, having shared membership in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, the Atlantic 10 and now the Big East.
Mack got win number 201 and needs one victory to tie Pete Gillen's 202 victories for the most coaching wins in school history.
Xavier will play at Providence on Saturday at noon. The Musketeers will face Villanova on the road in Philadelphia on Wednesday January 10 at 8:00 pm.
Butler will host Seton Hall on Saturday at 2:30 pm, then travel to Creighton for an 8:30 pm matchup on Monday.
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