Box Score Sophomore Cooper Schwieger (Overland Park, Kan. / Blue Valley Southwest) tallied 19 points, and senior Darius DeAveiro (Kanata, Ottawa, Canada / Orangeville Prep) stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, five rebounds and five assists, but the Valparaiso University men's basketball team fell 89-70 to DePaul in the first true road contest of the season on Friday afternoon at Wintrust Arena in Chicago's south loop.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo played well out of the gate, scoring the first five points on a 3 by Schwieger and a transition layup by Wright. Wright once again scored in transition set up by a Devon Ellis (Schaumburg, Ill. / Conant [Maryland Eastern Shore / Link Year]) steal, and Valpo led 7-5 at the under-16 media timeout.
• The Blue Demons led 12-9 after a basket by Tyler Schmidt (Valparaiso, Ind. / Victory Christian Academy) at the 13:23 mark of the first half, but the Beacons didn't score again for over five minutes, during which time an 11-0 DePaul run made it 23-9.
• Schwieger hit two 3s in quick succession, both times trimming the lead back down to single figures. However, another Blue Demons 8-0 burst created an 18-point margin with 1:16 left in the half. Valpo did whittle to within 13 at the break as Wright beat the buzzer with a layup to close out a frenetic sequence to close the half.
• Valpo battled as close as nine but a 7-0 run for DePaul pushed it back to 18 at 58-40 with 14:24 on the clock. The Beacons shot it better in the second half at 45.5 percent (15-of-33), but the Blue Demons hit at a 64 percent clip over the final 20 minutes, making 16 of their 25 attempts.

Inside the Game

• Schwieger's 19 points led the team in scoring and marked his second straight game with at least 17. He has scored 17 or more in three of his last four. Schwieger pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, his fifth time in the last six games with seven or more.
• DeAveiro scored a season-high 13 points, going 5-of-8 from the field, 3-of-6 from 3 and handing out five assists. His 13 points marked his highest total since Feb. 10, 2024 (14). The senior point guard has five or more rebounds in three straight.
• DeAveiro matched his season total for made 3s in a single game after entering the day at 3-for-18 this year. Schwieger similarly turned around his 3-point shooting against the Blue Demons, notching as many makes as he had all season prior to Friday by going 3-of-7 after entering the day 3-for-21. After starting the season in a 1-for-17 slump, Schwieger is 5-for-11 from distance over the last two games.
• DeAveiro's five assists helped him bring his career total to 319, climbing over Tracy Gipson (1989-93, 316) and Brandon McPherson (2005-10, 316) and into sole possession of 12^th in program history.
• Four Valpo players finished in double figures, as Schwieger and DeAveiro were joined by Wright and Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro (LaSalle, Quebec, Canada / Orangeville Prep) with 10 apiece. Wright has three double-figure games this year including each of the last two, while De La Cruz Monegro has scored at least nine in every contest and double figures in six out of seven.
• Ellis gobbled up seven rebounds in the post-turkey day showdown, his second highest total of the season and highest against a Division-I opponent.  
• After entering the game ranked second nationally in free-throw shooting, Valpo had its first game this season below 79 percent, going 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) at the stripe.
• DePaul, one of 23 undefeated teams in the nation, improved to 7-0 thanks in part to the play of four Missouri Valley Conference transfers who played against Valpo last year on various MVC teams. Former UIC Flame Isaiah Rivera had 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting to lead the way.
• This snapped a three-game winning streak, Valpo's longest since the start of the 2023-24 season.

Up Next
The Beacons (4-3) will open conference play on Thursday night against Drake with a 7 p.m. tip at the Athletics-Recreation Center. For ticket information, visit tickets.valpoathletics.com.