5 takeaways as Xavier Musketeers snap 4-game losing streak with win over DePaul

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Two days after Xavier head coach Sean Miller publicly ripped his team's lack of effort in the road loss to Marquette, the Musketeers answered their coach's calls for energy in a 91-58 win over DePaul Wednesday at Cintas Center.

In the big picture, the Quadrant 4 win does nothing to help Xavier's razor thin chances of making the NCAA Tournament, but it gives a much-needed confidence boost to a locker room that needed the feeling of being on the right side of the scoreboard after a four-game losing streak.

"You gotta come out and have effort. We started the game with great effort and spread it out to the whole team," said guard Dayvion McKnight.

Xavier coughed up an early double-digit lead with its worst stretch at the end of the first half but pulled away with a dominant spurt spearheaded by its leading scorer in the second half to dispel any upset bid from the visiting Blue Demons.

Xavier climbed back to .500 on the year (14-14) and 8-9 in Big East play with four regular-season games remaining.

Here's what we learned from Xavier's first win in three weeks.

5 observations from Xavier Musketeers win over DePaul

Olivari leads Big 3's bounce-back

Sunday in Milwaukee, Xavier got little production from its starting backcourt. The group of Dayvion McKnight, Quincy Olivari and Desmond Claude, a trio that Xavier has depended on all season, combined for just 24 points on 10-of-38 shooting.

Facing a hapless DePaul defense, Xavier's mighty guards combined for 56 points and Olivari lead the way with an absurd shooting display in the second half.

Going into the locker room, Olivari was just 1-of-5 from the floor for four points. He wouldn't stay cold for long, torching DePaul for 28 points in the second half on 10-of-11 shooting and 5-for-5 from beyond the arc. The Rice transfer has now scored 75 points in two games against the Blue Demons after a career-high 43 in Chicago earlier this month.

"I don't know if I've had a player that's meant more to the overall success of the team from an individual perspective than Quincy has done for us," said Miller, who made a case for Olivari to be named first-team All-Big East. "I tip my hat to Quincy. I'm sure glad we have him."

Olivari carried the load offensively over the final 20 minutes after Claude left the game early in the second half with a lower leg injury following a transition bucket. Claude (11) and McKnight (13) were both in double figures.

Miller said Claude reaggravated a slightly sprained ankle he suffered eight days ago in practice before Xavier played Providence.

"Hopefully he can make a quick recovery," Miller said.

Speaking of the backcourt, freshman guard Trey Green added 13 points on a night where Xavier shot 52.2% from the field and 67.7% in the second half.

"Our best stretch of play in a long time," Miller said of the second-half performance.

Muskies on the run

DePaul's lack of ball security (19 turnovers) in the first matchup between the two Big East rivals allowed Xavier to set the tone in transition. The same script played out on Wednesday as Xavier turned 20 DePaul turnovers into 17 fast-break points.

Xavier, No. 4 in the nation in transition points, got back-to-back steals and lay-ins from freshman Dailyn Swain to take a 67-39 lead midway through the second half. Swain had 8 points on 4-of-4 shooting and a team-high 6 rebounds.

DePaul makes it close in Xavier's lone poor stretch

Xavier led by as many as 14 in the first half, but DePaul didn't go quietly. The Blue Demons capitalized on Xavier's only pocket of poor play, ending the half on a 14-4 run to trim the Musketeers' lead to 33-29.

DePaul was led by Elijah Fisher's 14 points while Jalen Terry joined him in double figures with 12.

Kachi Nzeh gets 1st start

Since the calendar flipped to 2023, Miller has hinted at an elevated role for freshman Kachi Nzeh. He played just one minute in last week's loss to Providence but has started to see consistent minutes with 15 against Marquette and his first collegiate start Wednesday night as Miller hoped to play five guys that would give 100% at all times.

Nzeh, who had only started in the Baha Mar Hoops Summer League six months ago, grabbed 4 rebounds over 21 minutes.

Mr. 2000

It was only fitting for Olivari, in his lone season at Xavier, would hit a career milestone doing what he does best.

At the 18:24 mark in the first half, Olivari, the Big East's leading three-point shooter this season, knocked down a corner triple to surpass 2,000 career points for his career.

Olivari explained that he feels that point total would be approaching the 3,000-mark had he not suffered wrist injuries at Rice along with abbreviated schedules due to COVID.

"Who know what my career would look like? My journey included me breaking my wrist because what I learned away from the game was more valuable than what I learned playing the game," he said. "I never scored 1,000 in high school so I double it in college and it's an amazing feeling."

Olivari needs 112 more points for a single-season career-high after scoring 654 last year at Rice.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Big East basketball: Xavier beats DePaul, snaps 4-game losing streak