DePaul has no trouble with UIC in 77-56 win
ROSEMONT -- Mac Koshwal may be on the sideline nursing a foot injury, but Devin Hill is making the process smoother for DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright in filling the void.
Will Walker scored 18 points and Hill added 12 points and nine rebounds to lead DePaul to a 77-56 victory over Illinois-Chicago on Sunday night.
DePaul (6-3) bounced back from a 31-point loss to Mississippi State in the Big East/SEC Invitational on Thursday in Tampa and played its sixth straight game without Koshwal, whose injury on Nov. 22 is expected to keep him out for about a month.
"I think they responded in an unbelievable way to losing Mac, I really do. We just moved on and have not made any excuses," Wainwright said.
Leading 29-27 with 4:17 left in the first half, DePaul pulled away by scoring 10 unanswered points to close out the first half. Hill capped the run with a three-point play. Hill led the Blue Demons with 10 points and seven rebounds in the half.
"When Mac first got hurt I really didn't know what was going to happen. I didn't expect to start playing center, but I just have to help and play wherever coach wants me to play," Hill said.
Jeremiah Kelly finished with 11 points for DePaul.
Robo Kreps led Illinois-Chicago (1-6) with 18 points. He was 4-of-8 in the first half for 11 points.
Illinois-Chicago, which trailed by double digits throughout the second half has lost six straight after beating Illinois-Springfield in its opener. Zavion Neely added 15 points for the Flames.
"We're not playing very well, obviously and our team helped DePaul get out of a shooting slump," said Illinois-Chicago head coach Jimmy Collins. "I happened to be watching the (Mississippi State) game and they couldn't throw a can in the ocean, so we did help that."
Flames center K.C. Robbins was ejected and assessed a flagrant foul late in the first half after he hit DePaul's Mario Stula with a right forearm that sent Stula to the floor. Stula got up under his own power and came back in the game later in the half.
"(Robbins) obviously plays with too much emotion. Instead of doing the things that you expect a 6-foot-11 player to do, he went haywire on us and we didn't have him," said Collins.
Walker eclipsed the 1,000 career-point milestone with a 3 to put DePaul up 46-29 early in the second half. He became the 45th player in DePaul history with 1,000 or more points.