NJ Benson poured in a career-high 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds as DePaul rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to claim a 76-72 nonconference victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday night in Chicago.
The Blue Demons trailed for 19 consecutive minutes before going on an 11-0 run midway through the second half to regain the lead and deny UAPB its first win over a high-major team since Dec. 17, 2014, at Houston.
Kruz McClure scored all of his 17 points after halftime for DePaul (6-3). Layden Blocker and CJ Gunn added 12 points apiece. The Blue Demons went 29-of-41 at the free-throw line compared to 6-of-7 for the Golden Lions.
Quion Williams rolled up 27 points, seven rebounds and eight assists to pace UAPB (1-9), which played its 10th straight road game to open the season. Milhan Charles contributed 19 points and nine rebounds, while Jaquan Scott scored 11 points before fouling out with eight minutes left.
Benson went to work from the game’s opening tip. The broad-shouldered senior center threw down an alley-oop from Blocker on the game’s first possession and scored DePaul’s first 12 points over the first five minutes.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff adjusted defensively while continuing to find holes in DePaul’s man-to-man defense. When Scott drilled an open 17-footer to give the Golden Lions a 20-15 lead, DePaul coach Chris Holtmann had to call a timeout at the 11:16 mark.
The Blue Demons pulled within 30-28 on Blocker’s drive with 5:08 left, but they didn’t score the rest of the half as UAPB took a 37-28 lead into the break while shooting 55.2% from the field.
The Golden Lions extended their lead to 10 early in the second half, but DePaul got into the bonus within six minutes and started to chip away. Benson flew in for a tip dunk, McClure cashed two free throws and Benson made a layup to make it 43-40 with 13:42 left and force UAPB to call a timeout.
When Lloyd was called for a flagrant foul to prevent Gunn from collecting a loose ball for a breakaway, Gunn hit both free throws and Benson converted a 3-point play on the subsequent possession to take a 45-43 lead with 13:05 to go.
UAPB regained a 1-point lead briefly, but McClure swished a 3-pointer and added three free throws to restore a 5-point margin for the Blue Demons.
