Freeland scores 25 in DePaul's win over NIU

With Devin Hill nursing an injured foot and Krys Faber neutralized by early fouls, DePaul had two options for an inside game Thursday night.

Tony Freeland or nothing.

The 6-foot-6 sophomore forward from Los Angeles came through against a smaller Northern Illinois frontcourt as DePaul held on for an 86-84 non-conference victory before 3,000 at Allstate Arena.

The Blue Demons (2-4) led by 16 points with 11 minutes to go, but Xavier Silas sparked an NIU run that couldn't quite catch up.

Silas finished with a career-high-tying 34 points as the Huskies (2-4) shot 70 percent in the second half.

Freeland, who had more points than cold-shooting NIU for most of the first half, delivered a career-high 25 points and 9 rebounds to earn the Jay Goedert Memorial Award as the game's MVP.

“It felt good because it let me know I played real hard today,” Freeland said. “I have to continue to play hard every game. It's kind of motivation.”

Freeland led everyone in rebounding as DePaul won the boards (39-34) for the first time this season.

Freeland's aggressive moves in the paint enabled him to draw enough fouls to hit 13 of 16 free throws, which outperformed NIU's collective 11 of 18.

“We got the ball to him and he delivered,” said DePaul coach Oliver Purnell. “He made some tough shots, some power shots in there that gave us an inside presence. I thought we had one and they didn't another big difference in the game.”

Freshman point guard Brandon Young didn't make any difference in the first half as he hit the bench with 2 fouls in less than six minutes.

In the second half, Young stepped forward for baskets each time NIU drew near.

The Huskies were hanging around in the second half when Young reeled off 3 layups in a 55-second span all due to NIU turnovers against pressure to build a 13-point lead with 14:22 to go.

Silas heated up to get NIU within 4 points with 4:30 left, but Young answered with a driving layup and a lefthanded finger roll on the break.

Then Silas fed Tony Nixon for a 3-pointer to get the Huskies within 3, so Young calmly nailed a 12-foot pullup with two seconds on the shot clock.

Thanks to Young's heroics he added a pair of free throws with 21.2 seconds left to finish with a career-high 17 points NIU never had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead.

“I thought there were some times tonight when he played like a freshman,” Purnell said. “But the big moments, he stepped up big with a defensive play or a slash to the basket. He's a Big East player.”