DePaul 74, Chicago State 64: Brandon Young scored a season-high 21 points and the Blue Demons rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to overtake the host Cougars.
DePaul (5-3), which trailed 44-30 at halftime, opened the second half on a 15-2 run to cut Chicago State's lead to 46-45 as the Blue Demons held the Cougars without a field goal for 8 minutes, 16 seconds.
Cleveland Melvin posted a double-double for DePaul with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Worrel Clahar came off the bench to add 11 points and a career-high nine rebounds.
Chicago State (2-8) got a second straight double-double from Matt Ross, who finished with a career-high 20 points and 10 rebounds. Quinton Pippen tallied 14 points and Gary Tucker added 13 for the Cougars.
DePaul, which made its first visit to Chicago State's campus, dominated the backboards 42-26 in improving to 11-0 all-time against the Cougars.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Earlier Wednesday, Chicago State announced it has accepted an invitation to join the Western Athletic Conference in 2013. ... The Blue Demons have also won eight in a row against Chicagoland rivals Chicago State, Illinois-Chicago, Loyola and Northern Illinois. ... The Cougars notched just five field goals in the second half after shooting 52.9 percent (18-for-34) in the opening 20 minutes.
DePaul | Chicago St. | |
Brandon Young 21 | Scoring | Matt Ross 20 |
Brandon Young 6 | Assists | Clarke Rosenberg 5 |
Cleveland Melvin 10 | Rebounds | Matt Ross 10 |
Brandon Young 10 | Free Throws Made | Clarke Rosenberg 4 |
Worrel Clahar 2 | Steals | Clarke Rosenberg 4 |
Donnavan Kirk 2 | Blocks | Matt Ross 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
DePaul | 74 | 38.6 | 4-15 | 26-33 | 11 | 42 | 5 | 7 | 21 |
Chicago St. | 64 | 38.3 | 6-16 | 12-18 | 11 | 26 | 4 | 12 | 19 |