After a slow start, Northwestern riddled Chicago State's zone defense for 15 3-pointers on the way to a 77-35 non-conference victory Sunday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Senior guard Tre Demps paced the Wildcats (8-1) by tying his career-high of 23 points, and surpassing his career-high of nine rebounds and 5-of-10 shooting from long range. Junior forward Nathan Taphorn canned three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points.

Chicago State (3-8) received 12 points off the bench from senior forward Devon Friend. The Cougars, who shot 25 percent overall, made just 1 of 19 3-point attempts compared to the Wildcats' 15-of-36 showing.

After an eight-day layoff for fall quarter exams, the Wildcats needed time to work out the kinks as they missed six of their first seven 3-point tries. With 8:16 left in the first half, the Wildcats' lead stood at just 16-13 after Chicago State senior swingman Jawad Adekoya sank a jumper.

Northwestern limited Chicago State to 2 points the rest of the half to build a 31-15 halftime bulge. Senior center Alex Olah started NU's run with a dunk and sophomore point guard Bryant McIntosh capped it with a 3-pointer and a steal that led to a layup.

The Widcats used a 15-0 spurt early in the second half to ensure they'd extend their winning streak to five games. Olah and freshman Aaron Falzon ignited the blitz with layups before Demps, Sanjay Lumpkin and McIntosh netted open 3-pointers against Chicago State's zone defense to give NU a 46-17 lead with 14:29 to play.