DePaul dumps Duquesne, tops last season’s win total

DePaul dumps Duquesne, tops last season’s win total

Isaiah Rivera poured in 18 points and David Skogman scored 16 points as DePaul continued its resurgence with an 84-58 victory against Duquesne on Friday night in Chicago.Jacob Meyer tallied 13 poin

Isaiah Rivera poured in 18 points and David Skogman scored 16 points as DePaul continued its resurgence with an 84-58 victory against Duquesne on Friday night in Chicago.

Jacob Meyer tallied 13 points and Troy D’Amico and Conor Enright both racked up 10 points apiece for the Blue Demons.

DePaul (4-0), under first-year coach Chris Holtmann, eclipsed last season’s win total from a 3-29 season.

The Blue Demons got rolling from beyond the 3-point arc. Rivera made four 3-pointers as part of the team’s 13-for-25 shooting from long distance. Meyer scored his first nine points with three 3-pointers off the bench.

DePaul shot 53.7 percent from the field and made 13 of 17 free throws. The Blue Demons posted a 47-27 scoring edge in the second half.

Rivera shot 7-for-9 from the field and Skogman was 6-for-6. Skogman’s nine rebounds helped DePaul to a 40-26 advantage on the boards. Enright delivered eight assists, just one fewer than the Dukes’ total.

Maximus Edwards provided 13 points and reserve Jake DiMichele had 11 points for Duquesne (0-3), which played its first road game of the season.

The Dukes, who shot 35.7 percent from the field, didn’t take advantage of free throws (shooting 12-for-20) or 11 offensive rebounds. They were 6-for-22 on 3-point attempts, though they committed only seven turnovers.

The Blue Demons, who have played only home games, have reached the 80-point mark in every outing. This was their third victory with more than a 25-point margin.

DePaul led 37-31 at halftime after trailing 16-9 less than eight minutes into the game. Following the early burst, Duquesne had a stretch in which it scored only two points in more than five minutes.

The Blue Demons outscored the Dukes 25-13 across barely more than nine points to begin the second half, with that stretch capped by a Rivera 3-pointer for an 18-point lead.

During that span, the Duke went 2 1/2 minutes without scoring, and they couldn’t recover.