N.J. Benson had 15 points while David Skogman and CJ Gunn each scored 13 as DePaul matched its win total from last season with a 95-64 rout of Mercer on Monday night in Chicago.
Jacob Meyer scored 12 points for the Blue Demons (3-0), who, under first-year coach Chris Holtmann, boast an entirely new roster compared to last season’s 3-29 squad.
Former Louisville forward JJ Traynor had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Drake transfer Conor Enright dished out eight assists for DePaul, which took control by going 7-for-15 from 3-point range and scoring 21 points off 14 Mercer turnovers in the first half.
For the game, the Blue Demons shot 54.8 percent overall, totaled 21 assists and got 53 points from its bench, led by Benson, Gunn and Meyer.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Robinson and Alex Holt each scored 12 points for Mercer (1-1), which shot 39.3 percent from the field and went 4-for-24 from 3-point range in its first-ever meeting with DePaul.
The Blue Demons were simply stellar during the first half. They put together three runs in which they scored at least eight unanswered points, with the first — an 8-0 spurt — giving them a 22-9 lead at the 13:33 mark of the frame following a dunk from Gunn.
DePaul dominated from there, adding a 10-0 run that featured nine combined points from Troy D’Amico and Layden Blocker. That rally was part of an 18-3 first-half finish for the Blue Demons.
The Bears, meanwhile, didn’t make up for their turnover troubles. They went over five minutes without a basket before Angel Montas Jr.’s 3 with 2:27 remaining before the break, went 2-for-10 from distance and missed all six of their first-half free-throw attempts.
Mercer scored the first six points of the second half to get within 51-28. However, DePaul soon used an 11-0 run, highlighted by five straight points from Skogman and two baskets courtesy of Benson, to push its lead to 65-30 with 14:25 to go.
–Field Level Media
