National Basketball Association
DePaul 90, Illinois-Chicago 70
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, December 14, 2018
Where: Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Officials:
# Brian Dorsey, # John Gaffney, # Mike Eades
Attendance:
4136
By Field Level Media
Max Strus scored a career-high 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as host DePaul rolled past Illinois-Chicago 90-70 on Friday night in Chicago.
Devin Gage (15 points), Paul Reed (13), Jalen Coleman-Lands (10) and Eli Cain (10) also finished in double figures for the Blue Demons (7-2), who have won all seven of their home games.
Tarkus Ferguson scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Flames (4-7). Marcus Ottey had 17 points, Jordan Blount had 10 points and eight rebounds and Godwin Boahen also had 10 points.
Strus nearly had a double-double by halftime with 20 points and seven rebounds, keying a torrid shooting stretch that allowed the Blue Demons to seize and maintain control early.
DePaul raced to a 52-28 halftime lead by shooting 18-for-32 (56.3 percent), including 8-for-14 (57.1 percent) from 3-point range.
The Blue Demons shot 52.5 percent for the game while hitting 12 treys and forcing 20 turnovers. Strus tied a program record with eight 3-pointers.
Strus, whose previous career high was 33 points, swished 5 of his 8 attempts from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes, while Coleman-Lands was 2-for-4 from long range in the first half.
DePaul drilled four treys in the first four minutes to take an early 13-2 lead but proved equally successful in its midrange and inside game. An 11-0 run later in the half included just one 3-pointer as the Blue Demons boosted their lead to 34-15 with 5:21 left before the break.
Early struggles hampered the Flames, who committed 13 turnovers in the first half. UIC shot just 11-for-28 before halftime as its season-long road woes continued. Playing at Wintrust Arena for the first time, the Flames fell to 0-6 on the road.
UIC opened the second half on a 9-2 run to draw within 17 points before Strus again channeled his marksmanship, thwarting the surge with two treys in a 24-second span.
UIC is set to host Incarnate Word on Monday. The Blue Demons are off until Wednesday, when they also will host the Cardinals.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Illinois-Chicago |
|
DePaul |
|
Tarkus Ferguson 20 |
Scoring |
Max Strus 34 |
|
Tarkus Ferguson 3 |
Assists |
Devin Gage 5 |
|
Jordan Blount 8 |
Rebounds |
Max Strus 13 |
|
Tarkus Ferguson 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Max Strus 6 |
|
Jordan Blount 2 |
Steals |
Devin Gage 6 |
|
Tarkus Ferguson 1 |
Blocks |
Jaylen Butz 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Illinois-Chicago
|
70 |
43.1 |
11-31 |
9-13 |
10 |
27 |
1 |
7 |
20 |
| DePaul
|
90 |
52.5 |
12-26 |
14-24 |
15 |
40 |
3 |
10 |
15 |
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