College basketball: Dell Demps' son goes for career-high 23 versus NKU
EVANSTON, Ill. — Tre Demps was able to join his father, New Orleans Pelicans general manager Dell Demps, for a workout before Northwestern faced Northern Kentucky on Saturday.
Tre Demps didn't divulge what tips his dad shared, but the advice seemed to work.
Demps tied a career-high with 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting as Northwestern beat Northern Kentucky 76-55.
Then the Father and son headed to the Pelicans' road game against the Chicago Bulls.
"He's running another organization, flies with the team, drives to Evanston to help me out just shows what kind of dad he is," Demps said. "He means the world to me."
Dell Demps played in the NBA from 1993-97.
The Wildcats (9-4) have won three straight and four of five.
Todd Johnson scored 14 points for Northern Kentucky (6-7). The Norse fell to 0-3 against Big Ten teams this season.
Northwestern outrebounded Northern Kentucky 42-24 and shot 44 percent from the field to the Norse's 40 percent.
"They're a high-major program," Northern Kentucky coach Dave Bezold said. "Their bodies are bigger and stronger, and they're quicker than a lot of our guys."
The Wildcats attacked the basket after Norse came out pressing their guards. Northwestern had a 36-22 scoring edge in the paint.
"We were unable to stop the penetration," Bezold added.
Western Ky. 89, Brescia 42: Four Hilltoppers (6-5) reached double-figure scoring in the rout of the Bearcats (7-6).
DJ Clayton had 14 off the bench, Justin Johnson and Avery Patterson chipped in 11 off the pine and George Fant scored 10 in the first of a back-to-back slate against NAIA competition. The Hilltoppers (6-5) host Alice Lloyd on Monday before hosting Marshall in its Conference USA opener on Jan. 4.
Georgia 86, Mercer 77 (3OT): Charles Mann scored 22 points for the Bulldogs, who held off their in-state foe. The Bulldogs (7-3) got 17 points apiece from Marcus Thornton and Nemanja Djurisic. Kenny Gaines added 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Jordan Strawberry led Mercer (6-7) with a career-high 21 points. His three-point jumper from the corner at the end of regulation forced overtime.
Tied 72-72 after two extra periods, Georgia bolted out to a quick 78-72 lead in the third overtime, with Gaines converting a three-point play and Mann a three-point basket. Mercer managed only two field goals, both by Strawberry, after the Bulldogs were up by nine with less than 49 seconds to play.
No. 8 Gonzaga 87, BYU 80: Kyle Wiltjer scored 24 points and Kevin Pangos had 21 points and seven assists, leading the Bulldogs in the West Coast Conference opener for both teams.
Tyler Haws and reserve Anson Winder each scored 17 points for BYU (10-4). Kyle Collinsworth had a triple-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Wiltjer, who played on the 2012 NCAA Championship team at Kentucky, also had five rebounds, two assists and a block for the Bulldogs (12-1).
Georgetown 91, Indiana 87 (OT): D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera scored seven of his 29 points in overtime for the Hoyas in the Indeed Invitational at Madison Square Garden.
Georgetown (8-3) used a big second half run to catch the long-range shooting Hoosiers (10-3) but wasted a late five-point lead and needed overtime for a spirited victory over another top program trying to move back into the Top 25.
Women
UConn 96, SMU 45: Moriah Jefferson had a career-high 24 points and No. 2 UConn routed visiting SMU in the American Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
The junior point guard hit eight of her 12 shots, including 4-for-5 from three-point range. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis scored 19 points, Kia Nurse had 13 points and seven assists and Morgan Tuck added 12 points for UConn (9-1), which hosts No. 10 Duke on Monday night.
The win gives Geno Auriemma the best winning percentage in the history of women's college basketball (.86889) just ahead of former Louisiana Tech Coach Leon Barmore, who finished his career with a percentage of .86878 and a record of 576-87. Auriemma is now 888-134.
Sisters Keely and Alicia Froling and Raven Short each had seven points to lead SMU (4-8), which has now lost five in a row.
This story was originally published December 27, 2014 at 10:01 PM with the headline "College basketball: Dell Demps' son goes for career-high 23 versus NKU."