By SEAN BRENNAN
Special to BIGEAST.com
 
When No. 7 Xavier and 10th-seeded DePaul took the court in the nightcap of the BIG EAST Tournament’s opening-round doubleheader Wednesday night, each team was desperate. But for two completely different reasons.

The Blue Demons have had a bad habit of making the trip in from Chicago each March only to catch an early Thursday flight back home after yet another first-round exit. In fact, the Demons came into the tournament riding a five-game losing streak, with their last win coming over Georgetown in 2014.

Xavier? They had some pressing needs as well. The Musketeers came to New York needing at least a first-round win at the Garden to cement an NCAA Tournament invite. A loss to the Blue Demons could prove fatal to their dancing plans.

And thanks to Paul Reed’s four clutch free throws in the final 16.9 seconds, the Blue Demons finally put the brakes to their tournament losing streak while the Musketeers will now have to sweat out the Selection Sunday Show after the Blue Demons hung a costly 71-67 loss on Xavier.

“For everybody this time of year a lot is at stake,” DePaul head coach Dave Leitao said. “(You) want to live to play another day, and in order to get to where you want to get to, you’ve got to take it one step, one possession at a time. I thought we did do that.”

DePaul’s victory came after getting swept in the season series by the Musketeers with both Blue Demons’ losses coming within three weeks of each other in February. The Demons picked a good time of year to break that Xavier hex.

“We came out and stuck with the game plan,” said DePaul guard Charlie Moore, who just missed a double-double with 18 points and nine assists. ”Came out, gave energy, tried to limit their rebounds, just play defense as a team. I thought we did a great job of that tonight.”

It was a nip-and-tuck affair all the way to the end as neither team could shake the other. DePaul owned a 38-34 advantage at halftime and proceeded to build a pair of seven-point leads early in the second half with the latest one being a 53-46 cushion with 13:31 to play.

But Xavier would not go quietly. Not with their NCAA tournament hopes seemingly hanging in the balance as, prior to the game, Xavier was listed as one of the last four teams in the field of 68.

The Musketeers proceeded to go on a 15-3 run with Naji Marshall scoring seven of those points as Xavier took a 61-56 lead with 7:41 to play. Order seemed to be restored for the Musketeers at that point. But that feeling was short lived as DePaul, which closed out the regular season with just two wins in their final nine games, answered with the game’s decisive run.

It began with a dunk by Paul Reed, continued with a pair of free throws from Nick Ongenda followed by buckets from Oscar Lopez, Reed and Jaylen Butz. And when Charlie Moore sank a pair of clutch free throws with 29 seconds to play, suddenly the Blue Demons were up 68-63 and they could smell the finish line.

All the while the Demons were lighting it up offensively, the Musketeers’ offense suddenly went into a deep freeze as Xavier came up empty on four straight possessions down the stretch. Reed then put the finishing touches on the win with those four free throws in the final 16.9 seconds to seal the deal for DePaul.

Reed finished with a double-double with a game-high 23 points along with 12 rebounds while Jaylen Butz logged 11 points with six rebounds.
“Everybody has to be at their best if you’re going to win at this time of year,” Leitao said.

The game marked the final one of the tournament in which crowds will be allowed to attend as the BIG EAST announced a restricted attendance policy for the duration of the tournament due to the coronavirus.

“”I think the first responsibility for everybody in this world that we’re living in currently is safety at the expense of a packed building,” Leitao said. “We all would love that. Players would love it. The coach would love it. The fans, anybody would love it. But if one person suffers because of it, or if it spreads because of it...it’s probably not the right thing to do.”  
Xavier was led by  Tyrique Jones’s 22 points with Zach Freemantle adding 18 while Marshall had 15. And while the Blue Demons move on to face No. 2 seed Villanova in the quarterfinals Thursday at 7 p.m., the Musketeers’ postseason fate is very much up in the air.

So are they an NCAA Tournament team? Xavier head coach Travis Steele tried to make his case after the loss.

“I don’t know,” Steele said. “That’s up to the people on the committee, obviously. I think we play in the toughest league in the entire country. And we’ve beaten some good teams. I think we deserve to be there. But again, at the same time it’s not up to us.”