DePaul Basketball Tramples Loyola Maryland: 3 Takeaways

DePaul basketball ends their non-conference slate with an 84-65 victory over the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds. This ends their December schedule with a 9-4 record (0-2 in conference play).

The Blue Demons played a great matchup against the Greyhounds.

This victory marks their second all-time win over Loyola Maryland.

N.J. Benson, who started for the first time this season in relief of the injured David Skogman, recorded a double-double in the win. He scored 22 points, tying his career high, and tallying a career-high, 17 rebounds.

A trio of double-digit scorers in the victory also aided DePaul basketball. Jacob Meyer (12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals), C.J. Gunn (11 points, 4 rebounds), and Isaiah Rivera (11 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal), helped guide the Blue Demons to the win.

The game also saw French freshman forward Théo Pierre-Justin score 4 points, including his first collegiate dunk in transition.

When asked about Pierre-Justin’s performance, head coach Chris Holtmann liked his energy.

“I thought he played with good energy,” Holtmann said in the postgame press conference. “He probably missed one or two open ones that he normally makes, but I thought he came in ready to go.”

Here are the three key takeaways from the victory:

Takeaway #1: N.J. Benson

In his first start for a new team, Benson came out of the floodgates with a big impact.

By the end of the first half, Benson had already recorded a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. In terms of rebounding, Benson was a force in the paint, with an even 6 rebounds on both the offensive and defensive ends at the end of the first half. He followed it up with 4 defensive rebounds and 1 offensive rebound in the second half.

This change in the lineup reflected heavily on how the team played.

DePaul basketball outscored the Greyhounds 52-30 in the paint. Holtmann pointed out that their opponents are great at challenging the three-point shots of teams like the Blue Demons (Loyola Maryland, before this game, allowed an average opposing three-point percentage of 29.1%).

When asked if it was a point of emphasis for the team, Holtmann said that, by watching the Greyhounds play, DePaul basketball noticed that their opponents did a great job challenging three-point shots.

“I think we, in watching them noticed that (the perimeter defense) and we noticed they did do a good job challenging threes,” Holtmann stated. “They’re not even rotating a whole lot, which allows them to challenge the three, but I did think our spreading them out allowed us to drive in on occasion and get to the rim and make some plays.”

Takeaway #2: The Greyhounds shut down the Blue Demons from long-range

By the end of the first half, the team shot 1-11 (9.1%) from beyond the arc, with Layden Blocker being the only player to nail a long-range shot.

At the end of the game, the Blue Demons shot 5-24 (20.8%) from three-point shots.

Credit for that goes to players such as Milos Ilic, Jordan Stiemke, and Braeden Speed, who brought stiff perimeter defense to their opponents (Ilic and Speed had a combined 3 steals in the loss). The way DePaul basketball has been shooting from the perimeter will catch the attention of upcoming conference opponents looking for a way to slow down a fast-paced offense like this.

Takeaway #3: DePaul basketball did a good job limiting turnovers

Against their previous opponents, the Northwestern Wildcats, the team committed 18 turnovers. This time, they only committed 7 turnovers. That is a huge improvement coming out of their final non-conference game.

Their next opponents are the defending, back-to-back champion UConn Huskies. This team will be the biggest opponent they’ve faced all year. They’re good at stealing the ball (5.9 steals per game). However, their main threat is inside where they average a conference-leading 6.8 blocks per game.

Bonus Takeaway: David Skogman Injury Update

Holtmann mentioned when the staff will know Skogman’s availability for their upcoming conference matchup during the post-game press conference.

“I think we’ll know more in probably two or three days, how long it’s going to be,” Holtmann said. “We’ll know about his UConn availability here, probably, Monday (The DePaul-UConn game will take place on Wednesday), and then we’ll go from there.”

If Skogman is unable to play against the Huskies, that will force them to decide on who starts over him the DePaul basketball coaching staff.

Next up for DePaul basketball (9-4, 0-2): vs. UConn (10-3, 2-0) – Jan. 1 at 1 p.m. CST (2 p.m. EST)

Next up for Loyola (MD) basketball (5-6): at Holy Cross (8-5) – Jan. 2 at 5 p.m. CST (6 p.m. EST)