DePaul’s (4-0) hot scoring start after halftime, paired with its domination on the glass, helped it defeat Northwestern (3-1), 67-47, in its first victory over its crosstown rival since 2019. Despite a rough shooting start, the visitors caught fire after halftime, shooting 40% from the field and 50% from three, while Northwestern remained responseless offensively throughout the second half.
Jake West led NU in scoring, posting 20 points on 7-for-17 shooting, adding one assist and two rebounds. Pratt
was the only other Wildcat in double-digits with 10 points, going 5-for-13 from the field. DePaul’s Kruz McClure led all players with 18 points on 7-for-15 shooting, while Koree Cotton added 15 and took home the Fisher-McGrath MVP Award.
For Northwestern, Jake West, LA Pratt, Angelo Ciaravino and Okku Federiko started alongside Jack Karasinski, returning from a concussion that kept him out of the Wildcats’ last two games. Senior guards Ade Popoola, guard Layden Blocker and guard Koree Cotton formed the DePaul backcourt with Kruz McClure and Fabian Flores down low.
Federiko gave the Wildcats their first points of the game with a free throw 27 seconds in, but NU missed its first five field goals while Blue Demons connected on just one of their six attempts entering the game’s first media timeout.
A pair of McClure free throws stretched DePaul’s lead to five, but Pratt’s layup gave NU its first made field goal with 14:57 remaining in the half. A pair of DePaul threes from Noah Meeusen and Cotton’s pushed the Blue Demons’ lead to 12-7.
DePaul continued to struggle with efficiency, making just five of their first 21 field goal attempts – a disparity that allowed Northwestern to work itself back into the game. Colin Smith’s and Popoola traded shots from deep before an 8-0 scoring run made it a 20-14 DePaul lead. West hit a three-pointer and sank a fade-away midrange jumper to trim the Blue Demons’ lead to one point.
NU continued to chip at DePaul’s lead, but couldn’t get quite close enough to erase it. A big part of it was their struggles on the glass. The Blue Demons claimed 26 first-half boards, 12 of which were on the offensive end. The 7-foot-2 Flores proved difficult to deal with in the interior, so much so that the ‘Cats’ defense had no choice but to send the double down low.
Jack Karasinski drew NU level with DePaul after making a free throw. However, Blue Demon 7-footer Magoon Gwath converted a physical second-chance layup and made a three before the buzzer. DePaul led Northwestern 27-23, despite shooting 10-for-32 from the field and 4-for-19 from beyond the arc.
West led Northwestern with seven points on 2-for-8 shooting, while Cotton and McClure had a game-high of eight points each on shooting 60%. DePaul’s pairing of 7-footers caused havoc: 11 combined rebounds between Gwath and Flores. Northwestern’s tallest big, 7-foot-3 Symon Ghai, had yet to see the floor, despite what head coach Chris Collins hinted at earlier this week after NU’s victory over Boston University.
Popoola and Cotton opened the second half with three-point makes, giving DePaul a ten-point lead before two minutes elapsed. Cotton continued his hot start by converting a tough layup, and DePaul bothered NU’s ballhandlers, keeping it responseless offensively. Kahmare Holmes’ three-point dagger pushed DePaul’s lead out to 43-28, triggering a Chris Collins timeout.
The game eventually slowed down for both sides. Northwestern made just four of its first 15 field goal attempts, struggling in the paint against DePaul’s proactive rim protectors.
West’s three-pointer with 7:53 remaining cut DePaul’s lead down to 50-39, but just a few moments later, McClure fired a long-range dagger that padded the Blue Demons’ lead to 57-41 and brought the DePaul faithful on their feet. From there, any comeback seemed futile.
Cotton swatted away a timid Pratt layup attempt, sending Northwestern fans trickling out of Welsh-Ryan Arena and triggering audible chants of D-E-M-O-N-S. Blocker and McClure connected on corner threes, and Blocker swatted a late Phoenix Gill layup – the Blue Demons’ 11th and final on the night – to see out DePaul’s blowout 67-47 victory.
Following its first loss of the season, Northwestern turns its attention to Columbia, who comes into Evanston on Monday, Nov. 16. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. CT, with live coverage available on Big Ten Plus.
