The first 35 minutes might not have gone that well, but all DePaul needed was a dominant last five minutes at Xavier in a Big East contest on Saturday.

Senior guard Max Strus scored 17 points to lead DePaul to a 74-62 win over Xavier, its second straight victory following three straight losses.

On the other side, a frustrating season continued for Xavier, which has lost six straight games.

Xavier appeared to be in good shape to snap its skid, having a 57-53 lead with 5:28 remaining.

But it was all DePaul after that as the Blue Demons went on a 16-0 run to take a 69-57 lead with 50 seconds remaining.

The Blue Demons ended up outscoring Xavier by a margin of 21-5 over the final 5:28.

DePaul won despite a hideous performance from long distance, as the Blue Demons went just 4-of-18 from 3-point range.

But the Blue Demons made up for it by going 24-for-44 on 2-point shots (54.5 percent) and outrebounding Xavier, 40-32.

Senior Femi Olujobi and sophomore Paul Reed each scored 15 points and senior Eli Cain added 13 points to lead DePaul.

Sophomore Naji Marshall scored a game-high 22 points and sophomore Paul Scruggs added 13 points in defeat for Xavier, which shot 40.4 percent from the field overall (21-of-52) and 29.4 percent from 3-point range (5-of-17).

Xavier was also plagued by 16 turnovers.

DePaul held a 19-14 lead with 6:03 remaining in the first half, but Xavier rallied, going on an 8-2 run to take a 22-21 lead with 3:54 left until halftime.

The Musketeers eventually took a 31-30 lead into halftime.

Xavier extended its lead in the second half, taking a 47-39 lead with 12:34 remaining before DePaul made a move.

The Blue Demons went on a 10-4 run to close within 51-49 with 8:59 remaining.

--Field Level Media