Playing for the second night in a row, host DePaul needed nearly a half before pulling away from Division III Chicago for an 84-55 victory on Wednesday night at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.

Junior point guard Charlie Moore, a Kansas transfer, paced the Blue Demons (2-0) with 17 points and six assists. Freshman guard Markese Jacobs added 16 points, followed by junior forward Jaylen Butz (14 points) and freshman forward Romeo Weems (11 points).

The University of Chicago (0-1), which counted its first meeting with DePaul in 76 seasons as an exhibition game, received nine points from sophomore forward Zach Munson.

DePaul finished with a 50-4 scoring advantage in the paint. Chicago tried to keep pace by going 13 of 33 from 3-point range.

DePaul committed five turnovers on its first nine possessions, which offset the Blue Demons' defensive effort that made Chicago work for nearly four minutes before recording its first basket. When Munson hit back-to-back 3-pointers, the Maroons pulled into a 6-6 tie with 15:23 to go in the first.

The taller, faster Blue Demons started pounding the ball inside while the Maroons spread the floor and fired 3-pointers at will. DePaul never trailed, though Chicago pulled within 28-26 on Munson's 3-pointer with 5:07 to go.

The Blue Demons finally gained some breathing room by scoring 10 straight points over the last 1:45 of the first half to take a 46-31 lead into the break. Moore capped the spree in the final second when, while inbounding the ball from the baseline, he bounced his pass off a Chicago defender's back, grabbed the carom and turned it into a layup for a three-point play.

When DePaul added the first seven points of the second half in the opening 90 seconds to push its lead to 53-31, the game moved out of Chicago's reach.

The Blue Demons played for the second consecutive night as they try to sprint through head coach Dave Leitao's three-game suspension handed down by the NCAA in July for "failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance."

DePaul, which also was saddled with three years of probation, added Chicago to the schedule in September.

Assistant coach Tim Anderson will serve as head coach one more time during Friday's home game against Fairleigh Dickinson. Leitao returns to the sidelines for Monday's Gavitt Tipoff Games clash at Iowa.

--Field Level Media