ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP)—Tony Bennett scored 18 points and Marcellus Sommerville added 17 Saturday to lead Bradley to a 75-60 victory over DePaul, spoiling Jerry Wainwright’s first game as coach of the Blue Demons.
Wainwright took over for Dave Leitao, who left DePaul to become head coach at Virginia.
Bradley (1-0) led most of the game and took the lead for good midway through the first half with a 15-3 run. Ray Brown started it with a 3-pointer and Zach Andrews’ basket gave Bradley a 22-13 lead.
DePaul (0-1) was within 60-52 with 6:41 left, but Bradley responded with a 10-2 run capped by Andrews’ dunk that made it 70-54.
Sommerville also chipped in eight rebounds, and Lawrence Wright scored 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting for Bradley.
Karron Clarke led DePaul with 19 points and Marcus Heard added 15.
Bradley led 41-31 at the half behind 12 points from Bennett.
DePaul (0-1) had 14 turnovers in the first half and had 23 in the game.
Bradley played without Patrick O’Bryant and Will Franklin, who had to sit out for violating the NCAA’s “extra benefit” rule. The rule violation is currently under review by the NCAA Student-Athlete Reinstatement Division, officials said.
The start of the game was delayed 10 minutes by lighting problems at the All-State Arena.
