DePaul men’s basketball is off to their best start under head coach Oliver Purnell, who is in his fifth year at DePaul.
The Blue Demons cruised to an 84-60 victory over Chicago State Thursday to improve to 5-1, the team’s best start since the 2009-2010 season where they also started 5-1 under Jerry Wainwright.
Five Blue Demons finished in double figures, but it was forward Tommy Hamilton who led the show. Tommy Hamilton scored a career-high 27 points, and it was smooth sailing for DePaul throughout.
Chicago State (0-7) couldn’t stop the 6-foot-11 forward Hamilton even when they double teamed him.
“They are a pretty tough team so I knew I was going to get doubled,” Hamilton said.
Myke Henry scored 14 points, Billy Garrett Jr. and Aaron Simpson had 11 each and guard Darrick Wood added 10 for a solid night of scoring. Although they turned the ball over 12 times in the first half, the Blue Demons still managed to shoot 53.8 percent from the field while making 94.1 percent of their free throws.
The team led 47-30 at halftime and the Blue Demons led the entire game from start to finish.
This was the 13th meeting between the Blue Demons and Chicago State with DePaul remaining undefeated in the series. Last season, the two teams went into overtime where DePaul pulled out a 77-70 win.
Chicago State fell to 2-7 with the loss, and the win marked the first road win for DePaul.
DePaul returns Sunday at Allstate Arena at 1 p.m. against Milwaukee.