The DePaul Blue Demons beat the South Florida Bulls 82-80 on Thursday night at Wintrust Arena, holding on despite 26 points from South Florida's Garrett Johnson.
DePaul never trailed. The game had no lead changes and no ties. The Blue Demons opened with 8 straight points and led 50-35 at halftime. Their largest lead was 19 points.
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South Florida outscored DePaul 45-32 in the second half but could not get even. Johnson made 8 of 13 shots, all from 3-point range, and hit both of his free throws in 33 minutes.
Kruz McClure led DePaul with 18 points off the bench. He made 9 of 10 free throws and 3 of 8 3-pointers. Noah Meeusen added 13 points and 7 assists, and Ade Popoola scored 12 points on four 3-pointers.
For the Bulls, Chris Davis Jr. scored 17 points with 5 rebounds. Sonny Wilson played all 40 minutes and finished with 16 points and 10 assists for a double-double.
DePaul made 14 of 32 3-pointers, while South Florida went 9 of 26 from deep. The Bulls held edges of 38-28 in points in the paint and 19-4 in fast-break points, and they committed 6 turnovers to DePaul's 10.
DePaul improved to 2-0. South Florida fell to 1-1.
