DePaul jumped out to a quick start and never looked back as the Blue Demons downed the Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team, 98-52, on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 23) at Wintrust Arena. The Blue Demons shot 54.5 percent (36-of-66) from the field in the contest, including 51.7 percent (15-of-29) from three as they won their sixth consecutive game to start the season.

Quentin Jones (Chicago, Ill./Marian Catholic) led the way for NIU with 16 points and six rebounds, Tsvet Sotirov (Rolling Meadows, Ill./Rolling Meadows) scored a career-high 11 points while Dominic Gooden (Cleveland, Ohio/Walter L. Sickles) also netted a career-high with 10 points.

“We didn’t play well,” said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. “We are struggling to shoot it, score it, defend it. I thought we had the right intentions coming out of shootaround and practice, but we are shooting below 30 (percent from the field) and 20 (percent from three), so we have to be better collectively.”

NIU shot 25.4 percent (17-of-67) from the field and 20.7 percent (4-of-17) from three.

DePaul jumped out to a quick 11-2 start in the opening four minutes of the contest, forcing an early Huskie timeout.

The Blue Demon lead stretched to 51-15 at halftime as the Blue Demons shot 57.6 percent (19-of-33) from the field in the opening half, including 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from three-point range. DePaul held NIU to just 5-of-28 (17.9 percent) shooting in the opening 20 minutes, including 2-of-12 (16.7 percent) from three.

Layden Blocker led all scorers with 16 points in the first half for DePaul. The Blue Demons outscored the Huskies 26-2 in the paint in the opening stanza.

NIU (2-4) found a bit of offensive rhythm midway through the second half as Sotirov and Jones both knocked in triples during a 12-6 NIU burst.

DePaul remained hot from beyond the arc in the second half as the Blue Demons went 9-of-16 (56.3 percent) from three in the second 20 minutes.

Blocker finished with a game-high 21 points for DePaul, Jacob Meyer added 14 points, Conor Enright scored 13 and CJ Gunn chipped in 11 points. David Skogman finished with seven points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Blue Demons.

DePaul outrebounded NIU, 55-30, and finished the contest with a 42-18 edge in points in the paint.

NIU will return to action on Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 27, when the Huskies travel to Valparaiso. Game time against the Beacons is slated for 3 p.m.