Xavier 84, DePaul 74: Semaj Christon scored 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting as the Musketeers defeated the host Blue Demons in Big East play.

Justin Martin scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half as Xavier (15-4, 5-1) won for the 10th time in 11 games. Isaiah Philmore had 13 points for the Musketeers, who shot 58.3 percent from the field.

Cleveland Melvin scored 25 points but couldn’t prevent DePaul (10-10, 2-5) from losing for the sixth time in nine games. Billy Garrett Jr. added 18 points for the Blue Demons, who racked up 13 steals while forcing 21 turnovers.

Philmore’s three-point play early in the second half gave the Musketeers a 19-point lead before DePaul rallied to within 72-65 on a free throw by Garrett with 5:50 remaining. Philmore scored four points as Xavier answered with a 9-1 surge to hold a 15-point cushion with 3:30 to play.

The contest was tied at 22 after DePaul’s Forrest Robinson made a layup with a little more than 8 1/2 minutes left in the first half before Xavier took charge with eight straight points as part of a 13-2 run. Christon later scored six points in a half-ending 11-1 spurt that gave the Musketeers a 50-32 lead.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Christon is averaging 24 points on 43-of-65 shooting over the past five games. … DePaul was 22-of-38 from the free-throw line, including 3-for-10 in the first half. … Melvin had five rebounds to raise his career count to 707, surpassing legendary Mark Aguirre (706 from 1978-81) for 14th-most in Blue Demons history.