DePaul Clips Chicago State In Overtime 77-70
ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) — Billy Garrett Jr. scored eight points in overtime as DePaul beat Chicago State 77-70 on Sunday, barely continuing their dominance of the Cougars.
Tied at 62, Chicago State (4-6) had a chance to take the lead with 17 seconds left in regulation but Quinton Pippen's running 3-pointer from the left wing was long, and DePaul rebounded. Cleveland Melvin then had a chance to win the game for DePaul, but his lay-up attempt with three seconds remaining was blocked, sending the game to overtime.
The Blue Demons then scored the first six points of the extra session, before closing out the game to beat Chicago State for the 12th straight time.
Melvin scored 18 and Garrett had 17 for the Blue Demons (6-4), who have won two straight after losing three of four.
Melvin, playing in his 100th career game, also passed Dallas Comegys (1,613) for seventh on the school's all-time scoring list is nearing Stephen Howard (1,691) for sixth.
DePaul led by as many as 12 in the second half but Chicago State took the lead 59-58 with 5:10 left on a Matt Ross 3-pointer, capping off an 11-0 run. Chicago State then went ahead for the last time on Corey Gray's 3-pointer with 1:21 remaining, before Brandon Young made a free throw to tie the game at 62.
DePaul is in the middle of a stretch of three games in seven days, wrapping up when it hosts Houston Baptist on Wednesday.
The Cougars were led by Pippen and Nate Duhon's 18 points. After starting 2-1, Chicago State has lost five of seven and plays again Monday when it hosts Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.
Chicago State shot only 39 percent from the floor, and shot 13 free throws compared to DePaul's 40.
That all helped the Blue Demons continue their control of Chicago State. With Sunday's win, DePaul improved to 12-0 all-time against the Cougars, whom they had beaten by an average of 23.5 points per game entering Sunday.
DePaul also improved to 18-1 against current members of the Western Athletic Conference, which Chicago State joined before this season.
Sunday's game was also the Cougars' first in eight days, following their 90-81 win last Saturday over Wisconsin-Parkside.
Chicago State, winners of the final Great West Conference tournament last season, has already faced Indiana and Illinois and is scheduled to play at Cincinnati and Creighton before opening its first WAC season Jan. 4 when it faces Idaho.
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