Paul Reed, Charlie Moore and Jaylen Butz each tallied double-doubles to help DePaul remain unbeaten by rallying for a 88-75 victory over Central Michigan on Tuesday night in Chicago.
Reed finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Moore posted 18 points and a career-high 13 assists, and Butz contributed 15 points and 11 rebounds. Jalen Coleman-Lands gave the Blue Demons four double-figure scorers, contributing 21 points.
At 7-0, DePaul is off to its best start since the 1986-87 team opened the season 16-0.
Dallas Morgan paced the Chippewas with 20 points while shooting 6-for-11 from 3-point range. Rob Montgomery had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Kevin McKay scored 15 points.
Down 50-32 at halftime, the Blue Demons made 12 of their first 16 shots after the break while the Chippewas hit just four of their first 16 attempts from the field.
A Reed layup put DePaul ahead by 61-60 with 11:41 remaining as the Blue Demons outscored the Chippewas 29-10 in 8:19.
DePaul limited Central Michigan to 25 second-half points on 8-of-31 shooting (25.8 percent) while connecting on 57.9 percent of its shots in the second half (22 of 38).
DePaul entered the game having largely dominated their first six games. The Blue Demons occupied unfamiliar territory for the majority the night, however, falling behind on a Montgomery jumper with 17:51 to go in the first half and not reclaiming the lead until Reed converted the layup midway through the second half.
Central Michigan stormed to an 18-point advantage at the break, tripling the largest deficit DePaul has faced this season behind quickness on both sides of the floor. The Chippewas outhustled the Blue Demons to loose balls and maintained an up-tempo attack.
During a 2:22 stretch midway through the first half, Morgan drilled three 3-pointers as part of an 14-5 Chippewas run. The Blue Demons, meanwhile, shot 2-for-13 (15.4 percent) from deep in the first 20 minutes and had nearly as many turnovers, 11, as made field goals, 12.
--Field Level Media
Central Michigan | DePaul | |
Dallas Morgan 20 | Scoring | Paul Reed 23 |
Devontae Lane 3 | Assists | Charlie Moore 13 |
Robert Montgomery 9 | Rebounds | Jaylen Butz 11 |
Kevin McKay 5 | Free Throws Made | Darious Hall 3 |
Devontae Lane 3 | Steals | Charlie Moore 4 |
Romelo Burrell 1 | Blocks | Paul Reed 4 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Central Michigan | 75 | 38.2 | 7-24 | 16-21 | 11 | 30 | 2 | 7 | 13 |
DePaul | 88 | 48.6 | 7-24 | 13-19 | 20 | 43 | 5 | 11 | 14 |