Isaiah Rivera scored 19 points to help DePaul defeat Valparaiso 89-70 on Friday at Wintrust Arena. Rivera shot 7 of 10 from the field, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range, to help the Blue Demons improve to 7-0 for the first time since the 2019-20 season. Chris Holtmann is the first DePaul coach to open his debut season 7-0 since Ray Meyer in 1942-43, according to the school. Jacob Meyer added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Blue Demons, and CJ Gunn also scored 12 on 5-of-9 shooting, including 2 of 5 beyond the arc. Cooper Schwieger led the Beacons (4-3) with 19 points and eight rebounds. Darius DeAveiro added 13 points and five assists, and Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro and All Wright scored 10 apiece. DePaul took the lead with 15:35 left in the first half and never looked back. Rivera scored 13 in the first half to help put the Blue Demons up 42-29 at the break. DePaul extended its lead to 58-40, fueled by a 7-0 run. JJ Traynor scored a team-high eight points in the second half. The Blue Demons play their first game away from Wintrust on Wednesday at Texas Tech in the Big East/Big 12 Challenge (8 p.m., ESPNU). The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.