BOX SCORE

Joe Ringger led the Tigers with 16 in their 72-52 win over Chicago.

GREENCASTLE, Ind. - DePauw improved to 7-0 on the season and won for the 12th straight time, dating back to last February,  with a 72-52 victory over Chicago(4-5) in a game played at Greencastle High School.

The win equaled the best starts in school history, both 7-0, which occurred in the 1931-31 and 1946-47 seasons.

The Tigers, ranked fourth by Basketball America and sixth by D3hoops.com, led 13-12 with just under 14 minutes left in the first half before going on a 20-2 run over the next 6:30 to take a 33-14 advantage. Six different Tigers scored during the stretch that put the game away.

DePauw led by as many as 21 in the half before going to the break with a 45-27 lead. The Tigers connected on nearly 59 percent of their first half field goal tries and held the Maroons to just 31 percent shooting.

The Tigers opened the second half with a 14-2 string to take their biggest lead at 59-29 with 13:59 left. This time, five different Tigers scored during the run.

Chicago pulled back to within 19 at 61-42, but DePauw put together a 10-1 run to push the margin back to 28 at 71-43.

Mike Howland drives against the Maroons' defense.

Three Tigers scored in double figures led by Joe Ringger with 16, Joe Nixon with 14 and Jeremy Bettis with 13. Nixon and Bettis each finished with double-doubles with 10 rebounds apiece. Nixon added five assists and Bettis totaled four blocks in the win.

Derek Reich paced the Maroons with 24 including 18 in the first half. Mike Dolezal came off the bench to block four shots.

DePauw finished the game with 51.6 percent shooting from the floor, while Chicago connected on 32.8 percent. DePauw also held a 41-33 advantage on the boards.

The Tigers return to action on Dec. 29 when they travel to Hendrix for an 8 p.m. CST Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest.