Blue Demons forward Donnavan Kirk said Friday that his team had to take what they did at practice and carry it over to the games.

They did just that Sunday.

DePaul worked on defense this week – specifically pressure defense and closing out on shooters – and it paid off in an 84-50 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Allstate Arena.

Save for the opening minutes (when Milwaukee scored the first four points), DePaul led the entire game, leading by as many as 41. They put the Chicago State contest from Wednesday, where DePaul trailed 44-30 after the first half, behind them.

“This time we came out more focused,” said guard Worrell Clahar. “We came out strong and focused to get the job done from the beginning.”

The only blemish on the evening for the Demons was three-point shooting, where they went 2-for-15. Otherwise, they shot 50 percent from the field, scored 18 points on fast breaks, and 25 off turnovers. The defense was spectacular. They racked up eight blocks, eight steals, and forced 17 turnovers. The Panthers only shot 25 percent from the field, and 1-of-17 from three-point range.

It wasn’t just a cold shooting night for Milwaukee – DePaul played air-tight man defense, denied the ball all game, and never yielded any open looks. Even if the press was broken, the Demons reset their defense in the half court and made every field goal attempt a difficult one. Milwaukee had a number of bad missed shots that wildly caromed off the rim.

“The key was that we really contested their jump shots,” said head coach Oliver Purnell. “They shot 31 in the last game [against Northern Illinois], they’re going to shoot threes… so the key is to contest them and make them shoot a low percentage, and clearly we did that tonight.”

The most telling moment was with 15 minutes left in the second half. The Panthers, trailing 55-29, got a three-on-one fast break, but actually pulled up for a running jumper 10 feet from the hoop. Center Derrell Robertson, the lone Demon defender, sprang out from next to the basket and nearly blocked the shot. Robertson forced a brick on what should have been an easy two points for Milwaukee.

The Demons were just too big for the Panthers, outrebounding them (47-39), blocking more shots (8-2) and dominating the paint (52-20). Milwaukee could not stop alley-oops to Cleveland Melvin and Jamee Crockett, nor defend jump hooks from Melvin, Crockett, Kirk and Brandon Young. When DePaul worked the ball down low, the team got off a clean look.

The DePaul scoring was allotted evenly. Five players scored nine points or more, and Kirk led the team with 14 points.

Clahar had a stand-out game. Though he only scored four points, he had 10 assists, eight rebounds and four steals.

“Today he came off the bench and distributed the ball well,” Purnell said, “as well as giving us quickness and athleticism and guarding the ball well. He played really well today, he was a big difference maker.”

The senior gets a good share playing time, averaging 23 minutes a game this year, but typically comes in as a reserve (only six starts in 40 career games at DePaul).

“I’m coming off the bench to be a spark,” Clahar said. “I’m just trying to help any way I can, just to get the W.”

Clahar is the shortest player on the team, at 5-foot-11-inches, but is third in rebounding with 4.4 boards per game.

“It’s all about just wanting to get it, just wanting to get the job done,” Clahar said. “It’s not really about size, it’s about how badly you want it.”

The Demons improved their record to 6-3, and will head to Tempe to take on Arizona State (8-1) Wednesday night. After weeks of so-so play, DePaul has a four-game winning streak. While they eked out narrow victories in the previous three, everything went the Demons’ way this game.

“It was maybe our best overall effort all season,” said Purnell. “I thought we came out with that hard edge and grabbed the game by the throat.”

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BLUE DEMON NOTES: Young played the second half with a bandage on his chin, after banging it on the floor in the first half. “He’s got stitches in his chin,” Purnell said. “He was bleeding from his chin, and they sutured him up.” Young played eight minutes in the second half, scoring six points

Guard Durrell McDonald impressed with two layups in traffic mid-way through the second half. McDonald, a freshman, played 13 minutes, but started his fourth consecutive game. “He’s under me and Brandon’s wing,” Clahar said. “We push him hard in practice.

Freshman forward Peter Ryckbosch ignited the crowd with six points in garbage time, and earned standing ovations with each of his three baskets. Ryckbosch is from Chicago, played high school ball at St. Ignatius, and his mom, Lisa, works with DePaul’s women’s basketball team.