“This was as good of an offensive game as we played all year,” Holtmann said.

“Just the flow of the offense and obviously kept God first, had a good prayer before the game, so went into the game with immense confidence,” Gunn said when asked what allowed him to get into a rhythm. “Had a good couple days of practice, and we really fed off the energy in Wintrust today.”

Gunn scored 19 points in the first half and 12 points in the second.

“Not go chase any shots,” Gunn said when asked what was key to maintaining that offensive consistency. “The game was coming to me. I didn’t have to go out my way to shoot a bad shot or try to get my own. I just played within the rhythm of our offense.”

Gunn also said “I just love playing basketball.”

“For the school and for the students to have our back and to come in here and fight just like us, man, it makes us want to fight even harder,” Gunn said.

“I think it was our defense, transition defense, getting stops and being able to switch,” Benson said. “We ran a lot of different defensive coverages, but I feel like for the most part, we did everything we could in the second half.”

Marquette was on an 8-0 run before Benson knocked down a free throw. Following the free throw, Ross scored for Marquette.

DePaul 79 – Marquette 75 19.5 remaining.

He scored 19 of those in the first half, 11 in the second half.

Blue Demons’ offense in the second half:

6-for-12 from three.

18 points in the paint.

Three players with eight or more points.

Blue Demons’ defense in the second half:

Three forced turnovers.

Three steals and one block.

Have held Marquette to only 18 points.

Maclin and Benson have been key in this frame.

Maclin has 10 second-half points and Benson has eight.

The Blue Demons have scored 16 points in the paint in the second half.

The second half has been all DePaul.

Six players have scored in the frame so far. The Blue Demons are outscoring Marquette in the half 26-10 and are shooting 5-for-7 from three.

Marquette is shooting 4-for-12 from the field and 1-for-4 from three. They have two turnovers in the half as well.

Maclin has eight points in the second half.

Gunn has scored six points in the second half so far, carrying over the momentum from the first half (he has made two 3-pointers).

DePaul has held Marquette to only three points so far in the frame.

He completes the three-point play.

The second half has started out with multiple players scoring for the Blue Demons – it is not just Gunn. The Maclin layup gave the Blue Demons the lead.

DePaul is on an 8-0 run to start the second half.

Who scored in that run?

Benson – Two points.

Smith – Three points (knocked down a three).

Gunn – Three points (knocked down a three).

Scoring for DePaul:

Gunn – 19 points.

Benson – Eight points.

Blocker – Six points.

Brandon Maclin – Two points.

Smith – One point.

Defense for DePaul:

Marquette is shooting 8-for-14 from three (accounting for 24 points).

Marquette has scored 18 points in the paint as well.

Gunn is now up to 19 points for the Blue Demons. 15 of the 19 are from 3-pointers. He is shooting 5-for-8 from three.

Gunn’s 16 is offsetting the 16 combined points Marquette has from Ross and James.

Gunn is leading the Blue Demons with 13 points, as he drained another 3-pointer. He is 3-for-5 from three and 5-for-9 from the field.

Blocker and Benson each have six points. Benson, Blocker and Gunn have combined for 25 of the 28 points.

DePaul is also up to 12 points in the paint. Marquette has not scored since the 7:52 mark.

Gunn has scored 10 of the Blue Demons’ 17 points after knocking down two 3-pointers.

The Blue Demons are struggling to get stops on the defensive end. Marquette is shooting 4-for-6 from three and has scored eight points in the paint.

The Blue Demons are currently 5-for-11 from the field and have only taken one 3-pointer.

Six of the Blue Demons 10 points were scored in the paint. Gunn, Benson and Blocker are the only DePaul players who have scored so far.

Benson has scored four of the Blue Demons’ eight points. Both were dunks off of lobs. Gunn has scored the other four points.

It looked like the Blue Demons were going to start with the momentum based on the first play, but James responded with a jumper.

James has scored eight of the Golden Eagles 13 points.

Smith gets the steal and Blocker throws the lob to Benson for the dunk.

The game starts NOW. The Blue Demons look to get back in the win column following their loss to UConn on Jan. 10.

The Blue Demons will have a lot of support from the student section tonight, as the area is packed.

G Layden Blocker

G RJ Smith

G CJ Gunn

F Théo Pierre-Justin

F NJ Benson

Per the Big East’s availability report, Kruz McClure is out tonight. Per a team official, he is out because of concussion protocol.

1. Forward rotation (both tonight and in the following games): With forward Jeremy Lorenz officially out for the remainder of the season, the Blue Demons only have three active forwards on the roster (Kaleb Banks, NJ Benson and Théo Pierre-Justin). While DePaul has played without Lorenz due to the hip injury, this is the first look at the Blue Demons on the court following the announcement. 

2. Second half start: When speaking to the media before the Marquette game, head coach Chris Holtmann said he “did not love how we started the second half” against UConn but “was pleased with how we finished the game.” Will this happen again tonight, or will the Blue Demons start the second half better?

1. Don’t underestimate the opponent. 

The Marquette Golden Eagles are last in the Big East right now with a 1-6 record in Big East play. Also, and this includes non-conference games, are 0-5 when playing away.  

The Blue Demons need to play their game, which is defense. Marquette is ninth in the Big East in points with 74.3, while the Blue Demons are last with 72.9, according to ESPN.com. 

Marquette also has the seventh (Chase Ross) and 14th (Nigel James Jr.) leading scorers in the Big East, per ESPN.com. 

However, ESPN.com has the Blue Demons tied for third in the Big East in points allowed with 68.6. 

The Blue Demons need to bring their defensive intensity to the game despite Marquette’s record because of their higher scoring offense and two top 15 scorers in the Big East.