DePaul 78, Northern Illinois 67: Myke Henry and Billy Garrett Jr. each scored 15 points while Forrest Robinson came off the bench with 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range in the Blue Demons’ victory over the visiting Huskies.
Henry sat out most of the first half with two fouls but shot 6-for-14 from the floor, while Garrett made all three of his shots and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line for DePaul (4-1). Tommy Hamilton IV and Jamee Crockett each added 13 points for the Blue Demons.
The Huskies, who used a 28-2 run to rally for a 61-56 victory against Maine in their last game, were led by Aaric Armstead with 16 points and four rebounds. Darrell Bowie tallied 15 points and nine rebounds while and Chuks Iroegbu finished with a career-high 15 points off the bench for Northern Illinois (3-2), who committed 21 turnovers.
DePaul took a 62-43 lead with 9:56 left, but Armstead and Michael Orris canned back-to-back 3-pointers during an 11-1 run that trimmed the Blue Demons’ lead to 63-54. DePaul answered with four consecutive free throws by Garrett followed by Hamilton’s two-handed dunk and the lead was back into double figures at 69-56.
DePaul used a full-court pressure defense to create steals and transition baskets to fuel a 16-0 run and a 30-19 advantage following a layup by Hamilton. The Blue Demons were up 35-21 when Northern Illinois put together an 8-0 spurt to trim DePaul’s lead to six, but Robinson ended the run with a 3-pointer at the buzzer and DePaul led by nine at the half.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Seven of the 10 starters are natives of Chicago. … DePaul was beaten on the boards in the first half 22-8, but forced 13 turnovers, which the Blue Demons converted into 19 points. … DePaul shot 11-of-22 from 3-point range.
Northern Illinois | DePaul | |
Aaric Armstead 16 | Scoring | Billy Garrett Jr. 15 |
Travon Baker 3 | Assists | Durrell McDonald 9 |
Darrell Bowie 9 | Rebounds | Tommy Hamilton IV 5 |
Chuks Iroegbu 7 | Free Throws Made | Billy Garrett Jr. 8 |
Darrell Bowie 3 | Steals | Durrell McDonald 5 |
Jordan Threloff 2 | Blocks | Tommy Hamilton IV 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Northern Illinois | 67 | 48.0 | 2-11 | 17-22 | 11 | 33 | 4 | 11 | 21 |
DePaul | 78 | 53.8 | 11-22 | 11-17 | 22 | 21 | 8 | 12 | 15 |