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No. 7 Xavier rolls past DePaul

By Jeff Wallner, The Sports Xchange

CINCINNATI -- It's not that No. 7 Xavier has good players. It's how many they have.

"We've got a lot of guys who are really competitive," said sophomore guard Trevon Bluiett. "That's what sets us apart -- there's not just one player who's bigger than the program."

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That breadth of talent was on display Tuesday night when four Xavier players scored in double figures led by Bluiett's career-high 24 points in an 84-64 victory over DePaul at Cintas Center.

Xavier (15-1, 3-1 Big East) earned a third consecutive win since losing by 31 at Villanova on New Year's Eve, the game in which star freshman guard Edmond Sumner was carted off with a head injury.

Sumner didn't play Tuesday, but the Musketeers had their usual wide assortment of contributors. Guard Myles Davis scored 14 points. Sophomore guard J.P. Macura scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half, and freshman forward Kaiser Gates had a career-high 11 points.

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"I'm part of something bigger," said Gates, whom coach Chris Mack says is the team's second-best shooter. "The more I'm out there, the more confident I get."

The Musketeers made a season-high 12 3-pointers (on 26 attempts).

"They have a really good team, especially at home," said Blue Demons coach Dave Leitao. "You have to throw a heckuva haymaker to have a chance. We didn't do that."

DePaul (6-11, 0-5) dropped its fifth straight despite also shooting well from beyond the arc -- 11-for-27.

"They hit some 3s ... more from drivers," Mack said. "We're going to give those up at times especially when we play our zone. We played a lot harder tonight than we did against St. John's (74-66 win on Wednesday)."

Blue Demons senior forward Myke Henry had a team-leading 16 points and eight rebounds, and guard R.J. Curington scored 11.

However, Xavier held junior guard Billy Garrett Jr., DePaul's leading scorer who eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau in Saturday's loss at Georgetown, to five points.

"Billy's a great player," Bluiett said. "We were able to slow him down."

Xavier didn't distance itself from the Blue Demons in the first half, but a 7-0 run after halftime including five points by Macura helped the Musketeers extend their lead to 48-31.

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After having only two points in the first half, Macura, who was making his second straight start, erupted for 11 points in the first four minutes after halftime.

"He's been really down about how he's played offensively," Mack said of Macura. "It's always good when the balls go down."

Xavier scored 22 of its points off 14 DePaul turnovers.

The Musketeers, meanwhile, committed 10 turnovers on Tuesday after having 17 in the lackluster effort at St. John's.

"I was really pleased with how hard our team played," Mack said. "Our turnovers were down, which has plagued us since Edmond's been out. It was a very positive step in the right direction."

Bluiett got off to a blistering start Tuesday with four 3-pointers including three straight and 15 points in the first nine minutes.

Davis drained a 3-pointer while falling backward putting Xavier ahead 26-16.

He had 10 points in the first half.

DePaul went scoreless for more than four minutes but stayed close despite eight turnovers and only three points in the first half from Garrett.

The Musketeers led by 10 points at halftime behind Bluiett, who cooled off from 3-point range but still finished with 19 first-half points.

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Xavier's typically productive big men Jalen Reynolds and James Farr were a combined three-for-12, but it didn't matter much.

"They are so balanced, the way they go about their business," Leitao said. "It's not just one guy."

NOTES: Xavier coach Chris Mack earned his 149th victory surpassing Skip Prosser for second place on the school's all-time wins list. ... Musketeers G Edmond Sumner participated in pregame warmups for the first time since suffering a concussion in a nasty collision during a loss at Villanova on New Year's Eve but did not play on Tuesday. ... F Jalen Reynolds started for the Musketeers on Tuesday and had six points and seven rebounds after coming off the bench Wednesday at St. John's due to a poor effort in practice. ... Xavier's 15-1 start is the best in school history. The Musketeers began a season 13-2 four times previously. ... DePaul hasn't defeated a top-10 opponent since beating No. 5 Kansas 64-57 on Dec. 2, 2006.

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