Chase Audige set career highs with six 3-pointers and 28 points, as Northwestern made some early shots from distance and continued to flex its defensive muscle en route to a 83-45 rout over visiting DePaul on Saturday in Evanston, Ill.
Audige hit four of Northwestern’s eight made first-half 3s — on 19 attempts — and had 14 points through the first 20 minutes. He stayed hot in the second half, finishing 11 of 19 from the field and 6 of 10 from 3-point distance to help the Wildcats (8-2) win their third straight and improve to 5-1 at home.
Boo Buie made four 3s and had 17 points for Northwestern, which went 13 of 33 from beyond the arc. The Wildcats held the Blue Demons (6-6), who missed 12 of their first 13 shots, to their fewest points of the season on 30.8 percent shooting while forcing 22 turnovers. Entering this first meeting between the Chicagoland foes since December 2019, the Wildcats ranked among the top-10 nationally allowing an average of 56.8 points and 34.6 percent shooting.
Philmon Gebrewhit and Eral Penn each scored 11 for DePaul, which managed just 19 second-half points and continued to struggle after shooting 30.9 percent in Wednesday’s 66-55 loss at Duquesne.
After Gebrewhit made three free throws to tie it at 3-3, Northwestern reeled off eight consecutive points — highlighted by back-to-back 3s from Audige. A bucket from the Blue Demons’ Umoja Gibson halted that run with Northwestern ahead 11-5.
However, the Wildcats scored the next 11, featuring consecutive 3-pointers from Ty Berry, Audige and Buie. The Wildcats led 22-5 with 11:31 remaining in the opening half before Gibson’s 3 ended that surge.
DePaul committed 10 turnovers to trail 39-26 at the break. Audige scored the first six points of the second half, including two layups off two of his five steals. Northwestern opened the second half on a 9-0 surge to lead 48-26 before DePaul’s K.T. Raimey made a basket with 15:49 to play.
–Field Level Media
