Quincy Olivari scored 28 of his 32 points in the second half as host Xavier blew past DePaul 91-58 on Wednesday night in Cincinnati.
Xavier (14-14, 8-9 Big East) handed DePaul (3-25, 0-17) its 16th straight loss and its 29th Big East regular-season defeat in a row. Olivari’s performance followed the career-high 43 points he dropped on the Blue Demons earlier this month.
Olivari opened the second half 7-for-7 from the floor to break open a close game. He went 5-for-5 from the arc after the break, while Dayvion McKnight tallied 13 points, five rebounds and eight assists for the game in a complementary role. Trey Green had 13 points as the Musketeers snapped a four-game slide.
Desmond Claude scored 11 points for Xavier but left the game with an apparent left foot injury in the second half after making a reverse layup.
Elijah Fisher had 14 points and six rebounds to lead the Blue Demons, and Jalen Terry tacked on 12 points and six assists.
DePaul committed 20 turnovers that led to 34 Xavier points. The Musketeers made 11 of 21 3-point attempts (52.4 percent) while the Blue Demons canned just 5 of 19 (26.3 percent).
DePaul trailed by 14 twice in the first half but used an extended 14-2 run to draw within a single basket late. Chico Carter Jr. began the stretch with a triple and Fisher capped it with one of his own to make it 31-29 as Xavier missed seven of eight shots over a five-minute span.
Dailyn Swain’s fast break dunk for Xavier made it 33-29 at halftime.
It was 35-31 when Xavier ripped off 11 straight points, including nine in a row from Olivari. Later, Olivari’s wide-open 3-pointer gave Xavier its first 20-point lead of the night at 54-34. Lazar Djokovic added a layup to cap a 10-0 sprint.
McKnight knocked down a trey for Xavier to go ahead 75-44 with 7:51 still on the clock.
Xavier walk-on Brad Colbert thrilled the crowd by making a 3-pointer during garbage time, the first made field goal of his career.
–Field Level Media