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It went down to the fire Tuesday night, but the DePaul Blue Demons survived a late surge by St. John's, 77 to 75.
| DePaul | St. John's | |
| Field Goal Pct. | 40.3% | 47.5% |
| 3 Pt. Field Goal Pct. | 33.3% | 50% |
| Second Chance Pts | 18 | 8 |
| Turnovers | 12 | 13 |
The Blue Demons (10-8) needed a 21-point game from their freshman, Billy Garrett Jr., who helped push DePaul while Cleveland Melvin struggled to find a rhythm in the first half. Garrett led the charge, going 3-for-6 from deep and running the backcourt more efficiently with Brandon Young, combining for 40 points and 10 boards.
St. John's (9-7) was lights out from three-point in the first half, going 5-for-5 from beyond the arc. Steve Lavin got a lot of good production out of his guards, D`Angelo Harrison and Rysheed Jordan. Harrison dropped a game-high 24 while Jordan contributed 16, collectively shooting 67 percent from three.
Tied at the half, DePaul was slow out the gates but pulled ahead after a Tommy Hamilton three to make it a seven-point game. St. John's would recover, taking the lead back before a late jumper by Melvin put the Blue Demons up for good. Melvin didn't register a shot until midway through the first, but finished with 16 points and a game-high seven rebonds.
The Red Storm's habit of bad shots, despite shooting near 48 percent, as they continued to have major trouble converting from close range. They missed their final five shots, including a three-point miss by Max Hooper that would've give the Red Storm the win. DePaul stopped them four straight times, holding them without a point for the final 4:35 to snap an eight-game losing skid to SJU and start their first Big East winning streak in six years.
