This would have been an epitaph for the season. Instead it was just a loud speed bump.
For a spell there, this looked like it might be a nightmare developing. Xavier closed the first half by scoring just 4 points in 6 minutes, shooting 2-9 from the floor and committing a turnover. DePaul had their only decent offensive stretch of the game during that time, reeling off 14 points of their own to close the deficit to a single bucket before the Muskies ended the half with a bucket and 2:20 of scoreless ball from the visitors. Against a real team, that would have been a disaster. Against DePaul, it sent Xavier into the half leading 33-29.
The story leading up to the game had been Sean Miller’s cauterizing assessment of his own team. He called out the effort and approach against Marquette and promised that only effort would be rewarded going forward. If there was any ambiguity regarding to whom the message was directed, Kachi Nzeh started at the four, the position most often occupied by Gytis Nemeiksa.
It started off gangbusters. Quincy Olivari nailed an early three to take himself over 2,000 points on his college career. Abou Ousmane cleaned up after himself for one of his two rebounds in eighteen minutes of play. Dayvion stuck a couple of threes. Even when the offense sputtered, the defense stayed solid. With 14 minutes gone, Xavier had only given up 15 points. We already covered what came next.
With 20 minutes standing between Xavier and the loaded cylinder in DePaul Roulette, it was Quincy Olivari (of course) who decided it wasn’t going down like that. He had 4 points on 1-5 shooting at the interval, prompting Brad to point out on Twitter that he was 10 of his last 33 from deep and might be feeling the effects of carrying the entire program at points this season.
Or maybe he was just saving it up. After Lazar and Dayvion got things started, Quincy got himself to the line and converted to put Xavier up 8. Next time down, he drilled a three. X forced a turnover and the run out turned into a missed layup by Dayvion. Quincy was right there for the sitckback to push the lead to 13. Next time down, Quincy on a layup again. X went from up 6 to up 15 in the blink of an eye, and the only person to score during that time for either team was the former Rice Owl.
He wasn’t done.
DePaul scored and-one. Quincy answered with a fadeaway jumper. Nemo – back from beyond the grave and playing with a renewed vigor – forced a turnover. Quincy turned it into an assist to Des. After Des converted that bucket, he hobbled to the locker room on his own power with an apparent left lower leg injury. He did not return to play.
Next time down, Lazar came up with a steal. Quincy turned it into three points. Lazar scored after a Xavier stop, but Quincy – having given himself an entire possession off – answered a DePaul three with one of his own the next time down.
A bunch of silly stuff that resulted in a double technical against Gytis and Jeremiah Oden led into the media timeout. Coming out of it, Quincy split a pair of free throws and then – as penance, perhaps – drilled another three. That was a run of 6:11 in which Xavier scored 26 points. Quincy scored 22 of them and assisted 2 more. It was a brutal takeover of the game that began with a two-possession lead and came to a crescendo with the Muskies up 24.
This wasn’t a “season on the line” kind of performance, it was more Xavier best player all season answering the challenge that the coach had lain down. With DePaul – DePaul – hanging around at halftime, Quincy Olivari came off the ropes throwing haymakers. By the time Coach Miller took him out with six and change to play, he had put together 28 second half points on 10-11/5-5/3-4 shooting with 4 boards and a dime for good measure.
What happened from there both barely matters and matters a great deal. Trey Green stayed aggressive and scored 13 points. Dayvion McKnight had 13/5/8 without a turnover and shot 3-5 from behind the arc. Kachi Nzeh turned his start and 21 minutes into 0/4/2; Nemo had 0/5/2 in 9 minutes off the bench. Sasa Ciani left with an ankle injury and returned in a boot, and Lazar Djokovic shot 1-3/0-0/3-4 and contributed 5/3/4. The search for a backup big man continues.
Maybe most importantly, Bradley Colbert got 5 more minutes. With 1:25 left on the clock, he head faked himself into free air beyond the arc, reset, and jarred his first career bucket. The Cintas roof came off.
It’s pretty much just the auto bid right now. Xavier has three more regular season games to figure out what the plan will be in MSG.