DePaul 77, Chicago State 70 (OT)
ROSEMONT, Ill. -- DePaul maintained mastery over Chicago State as guard Billy Garrett collected eight points in overtime in the Blue Demons' 77-70 victory on Sunday at Allstate Arena.
Garrett hit a 3-pointer and went 5-of-6 from the free throw line to collect the bulk of the Blue Demons' 15 extra-session points.
Forward Cleveland Melvin scored 18 points, Garrett had 17 and guard Brandon Young added 14 as the Blue Demons (6-4) moved to 12-0 all-time against the Cougars while winning their second straight and third in four games.
The Cougars (4-6) rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to take a brief late lead in regulation before Young forced a tie with a free throw.
DePaul took command early in overtime with Charles McKinney's steal and layup followed by six points from Garrett for a 70-64 edge. McKinney later put an exclamation point on the victory with a dunk for a 76-68 lead.
Forward Quinton Pippen and guard Nate Duhon paced the Cougars with 18 points apiece, with guard Clarke Rosenberg adding 17.
The Cougars jumped to a quick 17-9 lead behind Pippen's seven early points.
But Chicago State abruptly stalled while DePaul launched a 16-2 run over the next 4 minutes 12 seconds. The Blue Demons grabbed their first lead at 21-19 on the second of guard Durrell McDonald's back-to-back 3-pointers with 9:21 showing in the first half.
The Blue Demons led the rest of the half, opening a 38-32 advantage by the break behind Melvin's nine points.
Melvin had a layup and a jam in a 53-second span as DePaul opened its biggest lead to that point at 50-38 with 14:07 to play.
Chicago State still trailed 54-43 deficit when it used a 16-4 run over a seven-minute span to take a 59-58 lead on a 3-pointer by forward Matt Ross with 5:06 remaining.
Guard Corey Gray hit a baseline 3-pointer with 1:21 remaining to give the Cougars the lead again at 62-61. But Young tied the game at 62-62 on a free throw with 51 seconds showing, and both teams missed late scoring opportunities in regulation.
Last year the Cougars' bid for a win over the Blue Demons collapsed in the second half. Chicago State led 44-30 at halftime but DePaul outscored the host 44-20 in the final 20 minutes on the way to a 74-64 victory.
Chicago State hosts Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Monday while DePaul resumes play Wednesday at home against Houston Baptist, its third game in seven days.
NOTES: Chicago State and Grand Canyon are the only Western Athletic Conference teams with four players averaging 10 points or better. Forward Quinton Pippen came into the game leading with a 15.0 point average. ... Eight different Cougars have made 3-pointers this season. Pippen has made 88 career 3-pointers and needed just three to enter Chicago State's all-time top 10 list. ... Nine different Chicago State players have started at least one game this winter. ... Under head coach Oliver Purnell DePaul is 20-3 when scoring 80 points or more and 5-0 so far this season. ... Forward Cleveland Melvin played in his 100th career game on Sunday and passed pass Dallas Comegys (1,613 points) for seventh on the Blue Demons' all-time scoring list. Melvin now has 1,623 career points. Young needed just five assists to pass Terrence Greene (449 assists) for fourth place all-time. ... DePaul is now 18-1 all-time against current members of the Western Athletic Conference.
