Red-hot run is extended

At, 6-0 DePaul is off to its best start since opening 16-0 in 1986

BOSTON — DePaul freshman forward Romeo Weems drew the toughest defensive assignment and added the biggest rebound, helping the Blue Demons stay unbeaten.

Charlie Moore hit a pair of clutch 3-pointers in the final 1 minute, 16 seconds — the second coming off Weems’ rebound of his own miss — and finished with 24 points to lead DePaul past Boston College 72-67 on Saturday, extending the Blue Demons’ best start 33 years.

“I was happy to see our guys be resilient. It was the first time all year that we had to make plays when plays were called for,” DePaul coach Dave Leitao said.

“We had to get some stops, and then Charlie came up big with those two 3s.”

Weems added 17 points, and Jaylen Butz and Paul Reed each scored 11 points for DePaul (6-0). It’s the Blue Demons best start since 1986-87, when they opened 16-0. Derryck Thornton had 16 points and Julian Rishwain 15 for the Eagles (4-2).

Weems also played extended minutes guarding Thornton, BC’s leading scorer coming in at 16.2 per game.

“There’s not many freshmen his size that can be called on for almost 30, 35 minutes to play the best player on the other team, particularly when he’s a point guard and he’s really good,” Leitao said.

Moore’s 3 from the right wing gave the Blue Demons a 65-61 lead with 1:16 to play, but Nik Popovich answered from beyond the arc 15 seconds later.

After Weems missed a short jumper but grabbed the rebound,

Moore nailed another 3 from the top of the key with just less than a minute to play.

“When I missed the floater, I was like: ‘I’ve got to get it back,’ ” Weems said. “Charlie had just made a big 3, and I found him and he knocked it down.”

The Blue Demons outrebounded BC 47-28, owning a 16-6 edge on the offensive glass.

“Whoever was more committed to doing small things was going to win the game,” BC coach Jim Christian said. “We focused on it, talked about it and showed it to them, but we did an awful job on the backboard.”

DePaul used an 8-0 run early in the second half, turning a three-point lead into a 45-34 edge on Moore’s driving basket with 15:28 to play. Trailing by 13, BC answered with a 9-0 spree over a 2 1⁄2-minute stretch, closing it to 54-50 on Jay Heath’s 3 from the left corner.

Moore played nearly 39 minutes with guard Devin Gage sidelined after spraining an ankle in practice. DePaul used an 8-0 run early in the second half to turn a three-point lead into a 45-34 edge on Moore’s driving basket with 15:28 to play.

Trailing by 13, BC answered with a 9-0 spree over a 2 1⁄2-minute stretch, closing to 54-50 on Jay Heath’s 3 from the left corner. DePaul pushed its lead back to nine, but BC rallied again, cutting it to four on Popovich’s first basket of the game with 5:16 left.

Illinois 120, Hampton 71: Kofi Cockburn and Ayo Dosunmu scored 20 points apiece and Alan Griffin and Andres Feliz each added 19, leading the rout in Champaign. Cockburn went 8for-10 from the field and added 13 rebounds for the Illini (5-1), who shot 45-for-70 (64.3%) overall and 8-for-18 (44.4%) from 3point range. Jermaine Marrow’s 22 points led Hampton (3-2).