Trevon Bluiett and Myles Davis lead Xavier past DePaul

With under three minutes left in the first half, Xavier led 31-28. X closed the half on a 10-3 run, opened the second with seven unanswered points, and was never seriously threatened again. The Musketeers move to 3-1 in conference play to sit just a game back of 4-0 Villanova, while DePaul falls to 0-5 and no doubt starts planning for track and field season. Xavier will be back in action with a trip to Marquette on Saturday.

Trevon's shooting slump is over

There was no denying that Tre had hit a lull over the past few games, shooting 2-15 from beyond the arc in conference play. Coach Mack fielded some questions in the pre-game presser about Trevon's stroke and his conditioning, but he assured the assembled reporters that Tre was going to be just fine. Tre came out apparently looking to prove his coach right, drilling four threes in the early going and getting three more from the line after being fouled in the act of shooting from deep. I'd say he's just fine.

Xavier's depth is growing

In past seasons you've really seen Coach Mack tighten his circle of trust as the season has gone on. Not only is that not happening this year, but Coach Mack is actually opening up the rotation a bit. Part of that is due to Edmond Sumner's injury, but Mack clearly trusts Kaiser Gates on the defensive end, Sean O'Mara in the post, and Larry to run the show in bursts. With James and JP already playing big roles that don't usually involve starting, Xavier has a squad that runs a legitimate 10 deep and has 7 guys who have reasonable claims to the starting 5.

There are still some warts

It's a good thing that Xavier was so effective from behind the arc, because their interior scoring left plenty to be desired. Jalen and James combined to go 3-12 from the floor, and even attempts to call each of their numbers by Coach Mack couldn't get them rolling. You still feel like there are going to be some games where Xavier could use a big performance out of those guys, and recent evidence isn't compelling in that regard. Couple that with the ease with which DePaul was getting looks from either corner against the 1-3-1 and there are still some things to work on going forward.