Northern Illinois Hands DePaul Its First Loss
11/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
Box Score
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Northern Illinois had five players in double figures and used that balance along with 11 three-point field goals to hand DePaul it’s first loss of the season 84-69 on Saturday at the Allstate Arena.
The loss dropped DePaul to 2-1 while the Huskies moved to 1-2.
Northern Illinois was led by Paige Paulsen’s 19 points while Todd Peterson and James Hughes each added 14, Jonathan Byrd 13 and Anthony Maestranzi 11 as the Huskies hit 11 of their 22 three-point field goals and outrebounded the Blue Demons 36-29. Peterson was awarded the Jay Goedert Most Outstanding Player of the Game Award honoring the late Huskie and Blue Demon assistant coach who passed away last July.
DePaul was led by Drake Diener’s game-high 22 points while Sammy Mejia added 11 and LeVar Seals 10.
The Blue Demons had control of the game early building up a six point lead at 26-20 with 7:48 remaining in the first half but then the Huskies took over with a 24-9 run that sent NIU into halftime with a 44-35 lead.
The second half belonged to NIU as the Huskies pushed the lead to as much as 22 at 77-55 with 4:04 left.
DePaul will be in action again on Wednesday when
Notes: The win snapped DePaul’s six-game regular season winning streak… Diener moved into sole possession of third place on DePaul’s all-time three-point field goal list… Diener has now made 24 consecutive free throws dating back to last season.