A frustrating month for Xavier men’s basketball ended on an improbable high note Jan. 31 at Cintas Center.
For 30-plus minutes, Xavier was flat, lifeless and headed toward one of its most disheartening losses of the season against DePaul.
Then, the Musketeers mounted a gritty comeback after trailing by 18 points in the second half and snapped a three-game losing streak when Filip Borovicanin hit a jumper at the buzzer to lift Xavier to a 68-66 victory.
“I don’t even know what to say, to be honest,” said Borovicanin, who had a few buzzer-beaters while in high school in Serbia. “I appreciate my guys for trusting me to take the shot at the end of the game.”
Borovicanin finished with 16 points while Tre Carroll led all scorers with 21. They were joined in double figures by Malik Messina-Moore (13) and Jovan Milicevic (10).
“Just winning as a group, I don’t know how to describe it. It’s just a great feeling,” Messina-Moore said.
Xavier (12-10, 4-7 Big East) avoided a season-long four-game losing streak while DePaul (12-10, 4-7 Big East) is still searching for its first road win in Big East play.
“An amazing win,” Xavier head coach Richard Pitino said. “I really challenged our guys after the Seton Hall game. We talked about toughness. That was true toughness at its finest. I’m proud of our guys.”
Takeaways from Xavier Musketeers victory over DePaul Blue Demons
Filip Borovicanin hits game-winner to beat DePaul
Borovicanin hit a pair of clutch jumpers in the final half-minute. Xavier took its first lead for good on a pair of free throws by Milicevic with 56.9 seconds left. After a stop, Borovicanin beat the shot clock with a contested jumper from inside the arc to put Xavier ahead 66-63 with 15.4 seconds remaining.
Xavier’s plan was to foul DePaul after a timeout, but the Blue Demons raced up the court and leading scorer C.J. Gunn knocked down a game-tying 3-pointer with nine seconds left.
Out of timeouts, Borovicanin surged up the floor, went 1-on-1 with Gunn defending and knocked down a game-winner that sent Cintas Center into a frenzy.
“I saw him (Gunn) take that shot and I’m like, ‘not again.’ I just wanted the ball. Because I made the previous shot, I was ready for that moment,” Borovicanin said.
Xavier’s comeback win over DePaul fueled by defense
DePaul led 63-51 after Gunn hit a jumper with 6:16 left. From that point on, Xavier responded with a 15-0 run with a tenacious defense that included more on-ball pressure and a full-court press.
It was the first time Xavier has won a game while scoring less than 70 points since the season-opener vs. Marist (66-62).
“It’s almost February. You have to win games like that in this league,” Pitino said. “There weren’t a lot of things going for us this afternoon. To be able to block all of that out and lock in was great.”
Xavier got a big defensive boost off the bench from backup guard Isaiah Walker. The Wyoming High School product played a season-high 25 minutes and led Xavier with 7 rebounds and registered a pair of steals.
“Toughness, defense, rebounding. High level of talent. Really proud of him (Walker),” Pitino said. “It’s cool he has that moment in this building being from here.”
Xavier had been outscored by 47 points at the free-throw line during Big East play. DePaul missed its only free-throw attempt Saturday and Xavier went 16-of-19.
DePaul breaks it open vs. Xavier
Xavier had trimmed DePaul’s lead to five at halftime, but the Blue Demons got off to a 6-for-8 shooting start in the final stanza and the lead was back to double figures in just over a minute.
Gunn, who led DePaul with 19 points, knocked down three consecutive 3-pointers and Xavier had little answer defensively as the Blue Demons’ lead swelled to 18.
Two lazy Xavier live-ball turnovers resulted in back-to-back DePaul dunks and the boo-birds rained down from Cintas Center as Pitino took a timeout with 13:34 remaining.
“It was more frustrating coming out of the half like we did,” Pitino said. “It (deficit) went from 5 to 18, there was no resistance.”
Xavier enters locker room on a high note vs. DePaul
Xavier went over five minutes without a basket and trailed 35-23 before back-to-back buckets by Carroll.
Messina-Moore hit his third triple of the first half to force a DePaul timeout with 39 seconds left.
Xavier’s defense notched a couple of stops in the final minute and the 7-0 run trimmed DePaul’s lead to 35-30 at the break, marking the first time the Musketeers have trailed at halftime at home since falling to UConn Dec. 31.
It’s the first time Xavier has won after trailing at halftime since beating Georgetown on the road before Christmas.
Xavier falls behind early during lethargic start
There was a lack of energy in the building as DePaul threw the first punch and never trailed in the first half at Cintas Center.
DePaul broke a 4-4 tie by scoring its first eight points in the paint and led 11-7 at the first media timeout. The Blue Demons shot 61.1% from the field (to Xavier’s 36.8%) over the opening 12 minutes and led by as many as 12 in the first half.
Xavier enters tough 2-game stretch on the road
The hardest two-game stretch of the season awaits Xavier, beginning with a road trip to Hartford to face No. 2 UConn at PeoplesBank Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 3.
UConn cruised past Xavier at Cintas Center on New Year’s Eve, 90-67.
Following an off weekend, Xavier heads to Madison Square Garden for a Pitino vs. Pitino rematch with No. 25 St. John’s on Monday, Feb. 9.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Takeaways as Xavier Musketeers rally to beat DePaul at the buzzer
Reporting by Shelby Dermer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
