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DePaul survived a poor shooting performance and a late three by Northwestern guard Dave Sobolewski to defeat the Wildcats, thanks to a buzzer-beating lay-up by freshman Billy Garrett Jr.
DePaul (8-5) held on for the 56-55 victory despite a poor performance on both sides of the ball. The Blue Demons shot nearly 37 percent from the field, and went 1-for-10 from long range. The woes that held them down in Sunday's loss at Illinois State continued to bring them down against Northwestern, as DePaul shot 48 percent from the free-throw line and committed 14 turnovers, four within the opening minutes of the game. Personal fouls almost dragged them down as well, as Tommy Hamilton picked up three fouls in the first seven minutes of the game, keeping him to just two points and six rebounds in the contest.
| DePaul | Northwestern | |
| Field Goal Pct. | 37% | 32% |
| FTs Made/Attempted | 14-29 | 14-23 |
| Turnovers | 14 | 15 |
The Wildcats (7-6) were no better, connecting on 32 percent of their shots, coughing up the ball 15 times, and going 8-24 from beyond the arc. Able to stay in the game, Northwestern fought back thanks to Tre Demps, picking up 23 points off the bench. NU's Drew Crawford nearly tied the game up late in the second half, posting up and drawing the foul on a made jumpshot before missing the free throw, a trait that would haunt the Cats for the rest of the game.
DePaul seemed to put the game away late after a beautiful three-point play by Sandi Marcius, who led the Blue Demons with 12 points. However, with the lead cut to two, Demps missed both free throws with 10 seconds left. Demps was bailed out by a good board by Crawford, who was able to swing the ball to the top of the key to Sobolewski, who knocked down the go-ahead three for NU despite going 0-for-5 from three for the game and only hitting one of his last 32 three-point attempts.
With 5 seconds left and DePaul having to inbound the ball from under the Wildcat basket, Brandon Young passed up a long three and found Billy Garrett Jr. under the basket, who tossed up the lay-up with less than a second to go to defeat Northwestern.
Notes
- Cleveland Melvin bounced back from a horrific performance at Illinois State, scoring eleven points and grabbing six boards. He drove the lane midway through the second half for an uncontested slam dunk to ignite the DePaul fans at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
- DePaul didn't have much of an answer against Drew Crawford tonight. The senior had 15 points and 7 rebounds and created match-up problems against smaller guards around the top of the key.
- The Blue Demon bigs shut down Northwestern center Alex Olah on offense, who was kept scoreless before fouling out late in the second half.
- DePaul is off for the next three days before they take on Georgetown on Thursday in their Big East opener. The game will be broadcast nationally on Fox Sports One and locally on 560 AM WIND.
