CINCINNATI -- Just when Edmond Sumner's teammates think they've seen it all, the Xavier point guard reaches deeper into his bag of tricks. On Wednesday night, Sumner drove the lane, hung in the air and scooped in a one-handed floater while being fouled and falling backward.

"I went back to the huddle and I'm like, 'You pretty good, bro'," Musketeers forward Rashid Gaston said. "He just looked at me and kind of smiled. I don't know how he did that. He makes some ridiculous plays."

Most importantly for No. 17 Xavier, Sumner had the offense running smoothly with seven assists to go along with his 13 points, and Trevon Bluiett scored a team-high 22, lifting the Musketeers to an 82-56 victory over Providence in the Big East Conference opener for both teams at Cintas Center.

With Sumner at the helm, Xavier (11-2) eclipsed 20 assists for the second straight game.

The Musketeers also limited the Friars to 38.8 percent shooting and forced 12 turnovers with eight steals to extend their home winning streak to 14 games.

"I thought our team put together as complete of a game as we've played all year," Xavier coach Chris Mack said. "I don't think Providence played its best. But, I thought there was a difference in the way we kept playing on the defensive end and moving the ball on the offensive end."

Rodney Bullock, the Friars' leading scorer and rebounder was held scoreless until 12 minutes remained. He came in averaging 19.4 points and 6.8 rebounds but had only two points and three rebounds on 1-of-11 shooting.

"We know his sweet spots," Bluiett said. "We wanted to get him out of his comfort zone. We got him out of his game."

Isaiah Jackson led the Friars with 17 points and Jalen Lindsey added 15.

Sumner was coming off his most complete offensive game of the season with 14 points, career-high nine assists and no turnovers in a victory over Eastern Washington on Dec. 20.

He got off to a slow start Wednesday night with four first-half turnovers, but had only one after halftime.

"I thought he was so much better in the second half," Mack said. "A sign of a mature player is to put a bad half behind him. That was nice to see."

Xavier's defense sparked a run midway through the first half.

J.P. Macura's lob to Malcolm Bernard in transition resulted in a dunk capping a 12-0 run to put the Musketeers ahead 20-7. Macura had 11 points and three assists.

Sean O'Mara's dunk off an assist from Bluiett made it 30-18. O'Mara finished with eight points.

Bluiett hit a 3-pointer helping the Musketeers take a 37-25 lead into halftime. He had 13 points in the half.

Providence (10-4) coach Ed Cooley called Friday's loss at Boston College the worst defeat during his tenure. Cooley's mood wasn't any better Wednesday.

"I don't know what happened to our sense of urgency," he said. "That's on me, I didn't have our team ready to play in a tough environment. Xavier is ranked where they should be, maybe should be a little higher. This league is a monster."

Xavier forced eight turnovers and had six steals in the first half.

Sumner's 3-pointer put the Musketeers ahead 51-31 early in the second half.

Gaston's dunk off an assist from Bluiett made it a 22-point lead prompting a Friars timeout. Gaston had 12 points and four rebounds.

Bullock began Wednesday's game 0-for-10 with 6-foot-8 Kaiser Gates guarding him primarily. His first points came on an uncontested dunk in transition.

"He's a target on the scouting report," Cooley said. "I thought he had a few good looks that he normally would score on. But, they locked in on him."

Three straight 3-pointers by Macura, Gates, and Bernard made it 68-41 with 9:43 left. Xavier was 8 for 20 from beyond the arc.

"It's a lot of fun when all the guys are clicking," Bluiett said. "When we do that, the results come out better and it's a lot more fun."

NOTES: The 26-point margin was the largest for Xavier in any Big East game since joining the league four seasons ago. The Musketeers beat DePaul by 21 last season. ... Xavier junior G Myles Davis remains suspended indefinitely despite speculation he would return in time for Big East Conference play. Davis had a triple-double against Providence last season. ... Friars sophomore G Drew Edwards was in uniform Wednesday night but did not play. He missed two straight games with a knee injury. ... Xavier beat the Friars four straight times and leads the series 7-3, including 5-2 since it joined the Big East.