Dre Davis had 16 points and 12 rebounds to propel Seton Hall to a much-needed 72-39 victory over DePaul on Tuesday night in Chicago.
Davis added three steals for the Pirates (14-8, 7-4 Big East Conference) who stopped a three-game losing streak, including two games without their star Kadary Richmond.
Isaiah Coleman scored 15 points while shooting 5-for-8 (2-for-4 from 3-point range) and 3 of 3 from the free-throw line.
Jaden Bediako had 12 points and shot 6 of 7 from the floor.
“[The coaches] treat it like any other game,” Bediako said on FS1 after the game. “Every game is a must-win for us. We had a couple skids, but the message is the same. We’re playing for something. We’re trying to get somewhere”
Richmond returned after sitting out losses to Providence and Marquette, scoring six points and grabbing seven rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench.
“It’s great [to have him back in the lineup],” Bediako said. “Everyone on our team is valuable though, too. I’m just glad to have him back. He’s a candidate in the running for Player of the Year in the Big East. And he is the spirit of our team, the head of our team. Every piece is important, though. So he’s definitely very important for us, too.”
Da’Sean Nelson led the way for the Blue Demons (3-18, 0-10) with 11 points and two steals.
DePaul has lost nine in a row and was held to a season-low 39 points by a Seton Hall defense that had given up 80 points a game during its three-game skid.
“[We learned] from the mistakes in the last three games,” Bediako said. “We watched film on the Marquette loss, the Providence loss, and everyone [was] just in sync. I think the message coach said was ‘We’ve got to be hungry.’ … This is a monster league. Every game is very important and our defense needs to be up there.”
— Post staff contributed to this report