Field Level Media
Nov 12, 2018
Senior guard Max Strus scored 25 points with nine rebounds and senior guard Eli Cain added 21 points as DePaul jumped out to an early lead and cruised to a 91-63 nonconference victory over visiting Morgan State at Chicago.
The Blue Demons improved to 2-0 for the first time in five years, with a matchup against Penn State awaiting Thursday. A nonconference game against Notre Dame awaits after that.
Martez Cameron led Morgan State (0-3) with 11 points. The Bears did not have a player reach double figures in points until freshman guard Malik Miller made a layup with just over seven minutes remaining. Miller finished with 10 points.
Sophomore guard Devin Gage added 13 points and nine assists as DePaul dominated in all aspects of the game. The Blue Demons had a 52-26 rebounding advantage and led 22-10 in assists. DePaul has scored at east 80 points in each of its first two games.
Cain added eight rebounds and six assists, reaching the 1,200-point mark in his DePaul career when he made a free throw with 5:54 remaining in the first half.
Strus, who was named second-team preseason all-Big East, reached the 25-point mark for the second consecutive game. He was 9-of-15 from the field and 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
Freshman guard Isaiah Burke, who entered leading Morgan State in scoring with 14 points per game off the bench, was held to just three points. Two of the Bears' defeats have come to Big East Conference teams as they fell 100-77 to Villanova in their season opener last Tuesday.
Morgan State scored 43 first-half points in their game against defending NCAA champion Villanova, but were held to just 20 points over the opening 20 minutes against DePaul.
The Blue Demons took a 39-20 lead into halftime after holding the Bears to just 1-of-13 (7.7 percent) from 3-point range in the first half. The Bears went 6-of-24 from 3-point range in the game, while the Blue Demons were 12-of-28 from distance.
DePaul, which is playing in its second season in its new downtown Chicago arena, earned its 1,450th victory all-time.
--Field Level Media