DePaul Blue Demons vs Louisville Cardinals Match Player Stats On Dec 10, 2021

David Jones scored 23 of his career-high 33 points in the second half Friday night as DePaul overcame poor shooting to post a 62-55 nonconference win over Louisville in Louisville, Ky.

Jones hit 15 of 22 shots from the field, including a 15-footer with 53.1 seconds left that gave the Blue Demons (8-1) a 60-55 lead. Javon Freeman-Liberty sank two foul shots with 26.8 seconds remaining to ice the outcome.

DePaul made just 24 of 66 attempts from the field, including a miserable 6 of 28 on 3-pointers, but made up for it with defense. The Cardinals (6-3) connected on only 23 of 74 field goal tries, going 7 of 33 on 3-pointers, and took just three foul shots.

Malik Williams pumped in 22 points to pace Louisville, going 10 of 15 from the field. Matt Cross came off the bench to score 11, but the nine other Cardinals who saw action were a terrible 8 of 48 from the field.

Jones scored the first seven points in a game-shifting 9-0 burst that gave the Blue Demons a 58-50 advantage with 2:45 left. DePaul won despite getting just eight points from Freeman-Liberty on 2 of 15 shooting. He entered the game as the team's top scorer at 21.8 ppg.

Playing its first road game of the season, DePaul predictably got off to a slow start. When Williams converted a layup at the 12:57 mark, Louisville established a 15-6 lead and looked ready to roll through its first game with its old Big East Conference rival in eight years.

But the Blue Demons used tough defense to turn the tables. They held the Cardinals without a point for more than seven minutes and eventually grabbed a 16-15 edge with 6:23 left on Brandon Johnson's 3-pointer.

DePaul increased its advantage to 26-17 with 4:06 remaining on a transition 3-pointer by Jalen Terry, but Louisville stormed back with the half's final 12 points. Cross stroked a 3-pointer with four seconds on the clock to give the Cardinals a 29-26 cushion at intermission.

--Field Level Media