Isaiah Rivera scored 19 points and Jacob Meyer had 12 to go along with seven assists, lifting host DePaul to an 89-70 victory over Valparaiso on Friday afternoon in Chicago.
Rivera made 7 of 10 shots from the floor and 3 of 4 from 3-point range as the Blue Demons capped a perfect seven-game homestand to improve to 7-0 for the first time since the 2019-20 season. DePaul will play its first road game on Wednesday at Texas Tech.
CJ Gunn had 12 points off the bench and Troy D’Amico added 11 points for the Blue Demons, who shot a robust 52.5 percent from the floor and 42.9 percent from 3-point range.
Valparaiso’s Cooper Schwieger sank three 3-pointers to highlight his 19-point performance. He also had eight rebounds.
Darius DeAveiro scored 13 points and All Wright and Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro each had 10 for the Beacons (4-3), who saw their three-game winning streak come to a halt. Valparaiso was bidding for its first four-game win streak since the 2018-19 season.
Devon Ellis made a pair of free throws to trim Valparaiso’s deficit to nine points at 47-38 early in the second half.
DePaul, however, stepped on the gas from there, with D’Amico converting a three-point play and Layden Blocker draining a 3-pointer to highlight an 11-2 run.
JJ Traynor had an emphatic dunk, and D’Amico sank a 3-pointer to extend the Blue Demons’ lead to 83-61 with 3:32 remaining in the second half.
Wright made a layup to stake Valparaiso to an early 7-5 lead before DePaul responded with an 18-4 run. Rivera and Meyer each made a 3-pointer and a layup during that surge.
Schwieger drained a 3-pointer as the Beacons cut their deficit to nine points with 4:53 remaining in the first half. Undaunted, Conor Enright made two 3-pointers and Gunn connected from beyond the arc to help DePaul take a 42-29 lead into intermission.
–Field Level Media
