“We work really hard tomorrow in practice and work really hard on … Sunday for practice,” Holtmann said.

“We got to challenge shots better,” Holtmann said. “That’s probably the most disappointing thing coming out of this. We got to challenge shots a lot better than what we’ve done.”

“You get three seconds, try to get three dribbles to get to the rim, or you know, get the best shot,” Blocker said. “They just double-teamed it, they read it, and I had to take up that shot.”

“I knew what we were going to face, and tried to urge our guys to be ready for that physical fight that they brought to us,” Collins said. “They were the tougher team for most of the night.”

Martinelli makes the first. Timeout DePaul.

Wintrust is getting LOUD. Northwestern turns the ball over, but Blocker gets blocked. The game remains tied with little time left.

McClure drove to the basket, made the layup, and was fouled. He completes the three-point play.

Northwestern is on a 4-0 run with two made layups. The Blue Demons need to get their offense going to end this game. They have not scored since the 3:56 mark.

DePaul leads by one with about three minutes left to play.

Maclin hits a 3-pointer to give DePaul a one-point lead, but Martinelli responds with a jumper for Northwestern to regain the lead. McClure drove and was fouled, knocking down both free throws to retake the lead for DePaul. The Blue Demons now forced a Northwestern turnover.

McClure is making his presence known in this half. He drew an offensive foul on Northwestern and threw a lob to Benson for the dunk.

Blocker drove to the basket and got the bucket and the foul. He completed the three-point play and now has nine points in the half and 14 for the game.

The Wildcats are on a 7-0 run.

The Blue Demons lead by three with 9:46 remaining. McClure has 10 points for DePaul. He, Blocker and Gunn are the only three Blue Demons in double figures.

The Blue Demons have gone on a 7-0 run to take the 57-56 lead with buckets from Fabián Flores, Smith and Banks. Offensive depth continues to be key for DePaul. Five players have scored for the Blue Demons in the second half. Only two players have scored in the second half for Northwestern.

The Wildcats have scored 11 points in the half so far to outscore the Blue Demons by five. Page (six) and Martinelli (five) account for all of the 11 points. The Blue Demons already have two turnovers in the half, with six points from Blocker (four) and Gunn (two).

Blocker goes to the free-throw line to complete the four-point play. He has nine points in the game and is 2-for-4 from three.

The Blue Demons have the two-point lead entering halftime. However, Northwestern is not going away quietly, knocking down two 3-pointers in the final 1:15.

DePaul’s depth has shone so far. Nine players have scored for the Blue Demons, and six of the players have scored five or more points.

For the Wildcats, the offense is concentrated in Page (13 points), Martinelli (12 points) and Reid (eight points).

The Wildcats keep sending the Blue Demons to the free-throw line. DePaul has scored 17 points off of free throws compared to Northwestern’s six points from free throws. Northwestern keeps sending DePaul to the free-throw line late in the half to allow the Blue Demons to extend their lead.

Gunn is the leading scorer for the Blue Demons with 11 points to match Page’s 11 for Northwestern. With a 3-pointer and a layup from Gunn and a dunk by Benson, the Blue Demons are keeping the game close as time dwindles in the first half.

The Blue Demons had not scored in 2:53, which allowed Northwestern to go on a 7-0 run. But the Blue Demons’ offense came back alive thanks to two free throws from RJ Smith and a Blocker layup off a turnover. Northwestern only leads by two with 7:24 left in the first half.

The Blue Demons appeared to have been gaining the advantage in the game, with a 4-0 run thanks to a Kaleb Banks second-chance layup and a Gunn jumper. The Blue Demons sent Martinelli to the line, and he knocked down both free throws. Northwestern’s defense continues to pressure the Blue Demons’ offense.

Martinelli has four points, Reid five and Page six for the Wildcats. These three account for 15 of Northwestern’s points. Six players have scored for the Blue Demons.

Both teams are getting stops on the defensive end, keeping the game close. The Blue Demons need to find a way to go on a scoring run while maintaining their defensive energy.

Northwestern and DePaul are both scoring the ball well and getting stops on the defensive end.

After a back-and-forth between both teams, Northwestern forces the Blocker turnover to then knock down a 3-pointer. The Wildcats got another stop, but DePaul responded on defense and now has the ball. Blocker hits the 3-pointer to tie it up.

With a Benson put-back dunk, DePaul is the first team on the board.

The game starts NOW. The Blue Demons look to bounce back from their loss against Buffalo and avoid dropping two games in a row.

G Brandon Maclin

G Layden Blocker

G CJ Gunn

F Théo Pierre-Justin

F NJ Benson

After making his first career start in the game against Buffalo, Pierre-Justin remains in the starting lineup for the Blue Demons.

No music has been playing at Wintrust Arena, and Northwestern and DePaul are warming up to the sounds of the fans within the arena. All that can be heard is chatter, the squeaking shoes and the bouncing basketballs.

1. Get CJ Gunn and Layden Blocker going.

Gunn scored a career high 28 points against Stonehill, but followed that up with only seven points in the Blue Demons’ 66-53 loss to Buffalo. Blocker has scored four points in each of the last two games. 

While Benson has been a consistent offensive presence, with a touch matchup tonight, Gunn and Blocker need to have an offensive rhythm as well, especially considering Benson is dealing with a sprained right wrist. 

2. Play consistently/well in both halves.

Holtmann had been critical of the team’s second-half play leading up to the game against Stonehill. However, the team has now struggled in the first half. DePaul allowed Stonehill to cut their 30-5 lead to 37-24 in the first. Against Buffalo, the Blue Demons entered halftime with an 18-point deficit. 

3. Limit the Wildcats’ offense. 

The Blue Demons need to slow down Nick Martinelli, who is averaging 19.3 points per game, while remaining aware of the other consistent scorers. Arrinten Page and Jayden Reid are both averaging double figures as well. Overall, the Wildcats have seven players averaging seven or more points per game, and the Wildcats scored 110 points in their last game.

NJ Benson has a sprained right wrist, which is his shooting hand. Head coach Chris Holtmann said yesterday in a media availability that Benson will play. Holtmann said on DePaul’s radio broadcast after the game against Buffalo that the injury happened in practice. The team thought it could have been broken, but it is “a pretty severe sprain.”

“I think he’s feeling it,” Holtmann said at the media availability. “The timeline’s really a couple weeks for him to be able to, I think, get to where he feels 100% again. He’s not 100%, like you saw him fall the other day and favored it. I think he’s obviously important for us, but I would say it’s a few weeks away from being 100%.”