Xavier Musketeers vs DePaul Blue Demons Box Score on Jan 19, 2022

Jack Nunge scored 15 of his team-high 23 points after halftime and Colby Jones added 13 points as No. 20 Xavier rallied past host DePaul 68-67 on Wednesday night in Chicago.

Xavier (14-3, 4-2 Big East) led for a mere 2:08 to stun DePaul (10-7, 1-6), which was searching for its second straight win against a ranked foe.

Jalen Terry had a clean look at a potential game-winning 3-pointer from the baseline, but his shot was no good as time expired.

DePaul's David Jones led all scorers with 26 points. Brandon Johnson had 13 points and eight rebounds while Terry had nine points and eight assists. Yor Anei grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

Nunge drilled a 3-pointer with 2:38 left to tie the game at 65. Thirty-six seconds later, his layup gave the Musketeers their first lead since scoring the first basket of the night. Xavier led by the final margin when Anei secured a steal for the Blue Demons with 30 seconds to go, setting the stage for Terry's last shot.

Playing without top scorer Javon Freeman-Liberty, who was sidelined with an undisclosed injury, the Blue Demons seemingly shrugged off the absence of their star and his 21.1 points per game average from the outset.

Fueled by a torrid first half from Jones, who scored 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting, DePaul led by as many as 12 points in the first 20 minutes.

Xavier capitalized on a scoring drought of 5:31 for the hosts, however, answering with a 12-0 run to tie the game at 29 with 4:10 left before the break. The Blue Demons took a 36-34 lead into intermission, overcoming 10 first-half turnovers.

The Musketeers shot 48.1 percent from the floor compared to 39.4 percent for the Blue Demons.

Paul Scruggs had eight points, seven assists and five rebounds for Xavier. Zach Freemantle contributed seven points and nine boards.

The Musketeers have won nine of their past 11 games against the Blue Demons. Wednesday marked the schools' first meeting since March 11, 2020.

--Field Level Media