NEW YORK – Behind a well-rounded team performance, Chris Holtmann notched his first career win in the BIG EAST tournament as DePaul took down Georgetown, 71-67, Wednesday night. The Blue Demons advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals against No. 2 Creighton at 7 p.m. on FS1.
DePaul (14-18) had four players reach double-digit scoring, including an 18-point performance from NJ Benson off the bench. Benson made his first appearance in over a month and set a school BIG EAST record with an 87.5 field goal percentage on 7-of-8 shooting. Layden Blocker added 16 points, six assists and a pair of steals behind four three-pointers, while Troy D’Amico and CJ Gunn rounded out the double-digit scoring with 11 points each.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Blue Demons used a first half 19-2 run to take a strong 27-12 lead halfway through the first period, behind 5-of-7 three-point shooting. Georgetown pushed themselves in front however before halftime behind a 12-0 run to lead 40-38. DePaul answered out of halftime with back-to- Rivera tied up the game seven minutes into the period on his first three of the game before Benson began to take over the game with a layup, 53-51.
Benson tallied 13 second-half points to build a nine-point, 65-56, lead for DePaul with five minutes remaining. Georgetown came back within three points, 65-62, as the game hit three minutes remaining. Blocker knocked in a second-chance three-point basket followed by a tip-in layup to JJ Traynor to keep DePaul’s advantage at six, 70-64. After the Hoyas made a three-point play, Georgetown missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity and Gunn would sink a free throw to clinch the game.
OF NOTE
- The victory marks the first time DePaul has beat the same opponent three times in a season since 1999-00 against Charlotte.
- The team broke into the top-10 for program’s single-season assists, reaching 502 on the season. It also marks the most for the Blue Demons since the 2018-19 season.
- DePaul’s 17 assists as a team tied the program record for a BIG EAST Tournament game
