CHICAGO-“That’s how Chicago basketball is supposed to be played,” said DePaul head coach Dave Leitao after his Blue Demons outlasted Northwestern, 83-78.

And that was the perfect way to describe this intense, back-and-forth game.

Northwestern held a 6-point lead with less than six minutes left but got outscored 22-11 down the stretch to suffer its second straight loss.

Boo Buie had another impressive performance to lead Northwestern, racking up 25 points and 6 assists, while Miller Kopp had a bounce-back game, collecting 21 points and 4 rebounds.

Morgan Park product Charlie Moore had 25 points and 10 assists to pace DePaul (12-1).

Anthony Gaines was a last-minute scratch with an apparent upper arm injury, giving Buie the first start of his career.

Northwestern could not get into an early groove offensively due to foul trouble from the bigs. Pete Nance, Robbie Beran and Ryan Young accumulated five fouls in the opening seven minutes of the game.

DePaul took advantage and jumped out to a 20-9 lead 9:37 into the first half. Moore provided most of the offense, scoring 11 of the Blue Demons’ 20 points during that span.

Northwestern responded with a run of its own fueled by Buie, who recorded 18-first half points to go along with 4 assists. He dazzled, going 7 of 10 from the field, with three of those shots coming from beyond the arc. Kopp provided 12 points to go along with 3 rebounds to give Northwestern a 38-34 lead as the half concluded.

The second half played out like a heavyweight fight, with both teams landing several big blows.

DePaul started the second half with a 14-4 run to open up a 50-42 edge with 13:56 left.The Cats responded with a 28-14 spurt to take a 70-64 lead with 5:30 left.

But that's when DePaul turned up the pressure and Northwestern’s lack of experience showed through. Their 6-point lead turned into a 7-point deficit in the span of four minutes, as they found themselves trailing 79-72 with 1:33 left.

That proved to be too much for the Cats to overcome as DePaul made their free throws down the stretch and never relinquished the lead.

Here are our takeaways from Northwestern's third loss in four games:

Buie has been unleashed: After a 26-point, 4-assist performance against Cassius Winston and Michigan State, Buie decided a 25-point, 6-assist night against Charlie Moore was a suitable encore.

Collins was proud of his freshman point guard, saying, "He needs to be in these kinds of games to learn what really good point guards need to do. He made a big jump over the past few weeks, and he's fearless.”

Buie has established himself as the team's most dangerous offensive weapon. His ability to score off the dribble opens up space for everyone else and has an immense impact on Kopp, who is most effective as a catch-and-shoot wing.

It's unlikely that Buie will keep producing at this rate for the remainder of the season, but now that Northwestern’s offense has a focal point, scoring will come easier for this team.

The Cats couldn't hold their lead: NU had a 6-point lead with 5:30 left in the game after being down by eight. They had all the momentum they needed to close out the game, but bad offensive movement and turnovers down the stretch allowed DePaul to retake the lead.

Collins attributed this to the veteran experience of DePaul.

“When it came down to winning time, their experience showed. All those guys are fourth- and fifth-year players.”

How does he plan on remedying their late-game woes?

“We have one game in the next 14 days, that's a lot of practice time," said Collins. "We need to work on how to manage games. Had we handled the ball right, got stops where we needed to, we would have won that game.”.

Offensive rebounds and turnovers were a killer: NU gave up 15 offensive rebounds against the Demons after surrendering 14 in a loss to Michigan State earlier this week.

Tonight it cost them dearly as DePaul had 10 second-chance points. But that pales in comparison to the Demons’ 27 points off of 16 NU turnovers.

“Their ability to turn us over and get to the open floor was huge,” said Collins of the alarming stat.

Nance couldn't come back from early foul trouble: Nance picked up two fouls in the opening two minutes of the game and that seemed to derail his confidence and effectiveness throughout the rest of the game.

Nance went 2 for 5 from the field for only 4 points , to go along with 3 rebounds, in 23 minutes of play.

In the second half, when DePaul adjusted their defense to take Buie out of the game (only 7 second-half points), Nance should have taken over the reigns of the offense, as he has proven himself to be a capable scorer against opponents like Purdue and Michigan State.

Instead, Nance took only three shots in the second half and fouled out with seconds left in the game.

Gaines' timetable is unknown: After the game, Collins was asked about the severity of Gaines' injury. The coach could not give specifics, as it's an unknown.

“He’s been bothered all year with a shoulder injury," said Collins. "We decided we needed to take a step back to see if this is going to be something extended or not.”

Gaines is Northwestern's only scholarship captain and a team leader. If he is out, the Wildcats will have to find someone to step up and lead the team down the road.