Jeremiah Oden scored 22 points and Chico Carter Jr. scored 14 points and DePaul ended its five-game losing streak by beating Louisville 75-68 on Saturday at Wintrust Arena.
Jaden Henley and Da’Sean Nelson each scored 10 points for the Blue Demons (2-7), who shot 51% (25-for-49) despite just 34.8% (8-for-23) from 3-point range.
Mike James scored 18 points, Skyy Clark 16 and reserve Ty-Laur Johnson 10 for Louisville (4-5).
Emmanuel Okorafor’s layup 5 minutes, 50 seconds before halftime pulled Louisville into a 20-all tie, the closest the Cardinals found themselves for the remainder. DePaul closed the half outscoring Louisville 18-2. Oden’s layup before time expired made it 38-22 at the break.
In the second half, the Cardinals closed within 41-32, 48-40 and 53-47 — the last with 9:33 left — on Tre White’s layups but they couldn’t get closer.
Leading by six, Oden responded with a 3-pointer, Terry made a jumper and layup and in less than a couple of minutes DePaul’s lead was back to double digits. Clark’s 3 pulled Louisville within 62-54 with 4:43 left, but again, Oden responded with a basket and DePaul maintained safe distance to seal it.
DePaul hosts Northwestern on Dec. 16. Louisville hosts Arkansas State on Wednesday.