Box Score
Post Game Audio
ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Wilson Chandler scored a season-high 24 points and Sammy Mejia added 23 to lead DePaul to a 78-63 victory over Wake Forest on Wednesday night.
Chandler hit 11 of 17 shots and scored 20 points in the first half. Mejia added 16 as the Blue Demons (5-5) sped out to a quick double-digit lead and never looked back.
Mejia shot 9-for-17 and added 12 rebounds and five assists. His scoring tied a season high set in a 64-57 win over Kansas on Dec 2.
The Demon Deacons (5-3) couldn't match DePaul's athleticism as DePaul scored 20 of its first 22 points in the paint. Wake Forest has lost three straight since a 5-0 start against relatively easy competition.
Wake Forest had no answer for Chandler in the first half. The 6-8 forward scored 10 of the team's first 12 points and the Blue Demons easily built a 46-27 halftime cushion.
Wake Forest held DePaul scoreless for nearly five minutes to start the second half but couldn't take advantage. DePaul forward Wesley Green hit a three to break the drought and Chandler scored on a tip to push the lead back to 19.
Green, the son of former Wake Forest star Kenny Green, scored a season-high 10 points. Anthony Gurley added 14 for Wake Forest.
Chandler dominated in the first half, throwing down an array of impressive dunks while hitting nine of 11 shots. His previous season high was 23 against Chaminade in Hawaii on Nov. 21.
Wake Forest's 6-11 center Kyle Visser fought through consistent double teams to score a team-high 20 points to go along with eight rebounds, but the Demon Deacons didn't have much success defensively down low.
DePaul forced 10 turnovers in the first half that resulted in 15 points.
The Blue Demons are 4-0 at home. DePaul returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Rhode Island at 1 p.m. (CST). The contest will be broadcast on WSCR (670 AM) in Chicago.
Game Notes
DePaul has defeated Wake Forest in two consecutive meetings. The all-time series now stands at 2-2… Jerry Wainwright is now 2-5 against the Demon Deacons, he spent nine seasons as an assistant coach at Wake Forest... tonight’s win was DePaul’s sixth consecutive home victory dating back to last season, the current streak is the Blue Demons’ longest since a streak of 12 consecutive home wins from Dec. 1, 2004 – February 26, 2005… DePaul’s 46-27 (19 point) halftime lead was the largest of the season… Wilson Chandler scored a season-high 24 points and led the Blue Demons in scoring for the sixth time this season… Chandler scored DePaul’s first eight points and ten of the team’s first 12… Sammy Mejia’s 37 minutes put him over the 3,000 career minute mark, he became the 14th player in school history to log 3,000 minutes of court time and the first since Quemont Greer, who finished with 3,218 from 2001-05… Mejia tied his season-high 23 points and grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds… Mejia’s double-double is his first of the season and the fifth of his career… Wesley Green went 2-2 from behind the three-point arc and is now 4-4 in his career from three-point range… Green also had a career-high four steals… Thijin Moses has made a three-pointer in his last four games played and has made six of his last seven three-point attempts.
