Xavier started the game strong, jumping out to a 7-0 lead before going up 13-3 with 14:52 left in the first half. They held DePaul to 1-6, 16.7%, from the field while they shot 4-7, 57.1% from the field.
After a couple bad possessions out the timeout, a Ryan Welage three pushed Xavier’s lead back to double-digits at 16-5. However, DePaul managed to bring it back under 10, trailing only 19-11 with 11:14 left in the first half. Foul trouble plagued the Musketeers, as they had already committed six fouls at that point.
DePaul continued to cut into the lead, and only trailed 25-22 before a quick 5-0 run by Xavier gave them an eight point cushion, 30-22.