San Francisco earned third place in the Cactus Division of the inaugural Arizona Tip-Off Tournament with a 70-54 victory Sunday evening.
The Dons (3-2) used an early-second half run to pull away for good, and forward Jonathan Mogbo tied with guard Marcus Williams for a team-high 14 points each.
Both teams had lost their previous games at the Glendale, Ariz., event.
There were two lead changes in the first half, as the Dons held a 4-2 early lead before DePaul (1-4) grabbed the lead on a Da’Sean Nelson three-pointer. Including that bucket, Nelson and Chico Carter Jr. combined for eight points before San Francisco’s Mike Sharavjamts’ jumper tied it at 13 apiece.
Jeremiah Oden’s trey and a Caleb Murphy layup gave the Blue Demons a five-point edge, then Nelson’s basket was the only interruption in an 8-2 Dons surge that made it 21-20.
San Francisco was up, 33-30, at the midway point. The Dons connected on 15 of their 30 shots in the first half, including a 3-for-9 mark from deep. Meanwhile, DePaul went 6-for-10 (60%) on three-point tries.
Mogbo laid in two buckets in the initial two minutes of the second half, bookending Williams’ three-pointer. That stretched San Francisco’s advantage to 10, then two Mogbo dunks made it an 11-0 run in the first 3:47 of the second half.
Mogbo, who was 79.4% from the field through the first four contests, went 7-for-8. He entered the night fourth in shooting percentage in the nation.
The Blue Demons entered the contest with five scorers averaging double-digits but were limited to 24 points in the second half of the contest. Carter Jr. tied Nelson’s 15 points and paced DePaul for the second matchup in a row and third this season.
San Francisco has now won five of the programs’ seven all-time meetings. They’ll play Purdue Fort Wayne Wednesday, while the Blue Demons play Northern Illinois on Saturday.
–Field Level Media
