If Northwestern missed center Dererk Pardon, it sure didn't look like it on Saturday night.

Playing their first game without their injured sophomore starter, the Wildcats destroyed cross-town rival DePaul 80-64 on Saturday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

The final score may not reflect it, but this one was over early as Northwestern went on an epic 25-2 first-half run to open up a ridiculous 54-18 lead at the break. Yes, the Blue Demons came back to make the final margin respectable, but the second half was essentially reduced to a scrimmage as the Wildcats just wanted to play out the final 20 minutes and escape without any injuries.

Northwestern was remarkably balanced offensively, with Scottie Lindsey leading the way with a game-high 19 points, Vic Law adding 16, Gavin Skelly 15 and Sanjay Lumpkin 11. Lumpkin led all players with 11 rebounds.

DePaul was led by Darrick Wood, who scored all 15 points in the second half.

The easy win was a stark contrast to last season, when Northwestern needed overtime and an outstanding performance by the now injured Aaron Falzon to post a 78-70 win over the Blue Demons.

Here are our three pointers on the beatdown in Evanston:

Northwestern played its best half of basketball…maybe ever: The Wildcats put on an absolute clinic in the first half. The numbers were staggering: the Wildcats hit 7 of 13 3-pointers and 9 of 9 free throws, outrebounded the Demons 24-15, and outscored DePaul 10-0 in fast-break points, 13-3 in bench points and 13-4 on second-chance points. And maybe the most impressive stat of all: Northwestern had 18 assists on its 19 first-half baskets. All the while, the Wildcats hustling, suffocating defense on the other end held DePaul to 24.1 percent shooting, including 0 for 11 from beyond the arc. Northwestern had a 7-6 edge after DePaul’s Eli Cain hit a jumper just less than four minutes into the game; from that point on, the Wildcats outscored the listless Demons 47-12 before the halftime buzzer. This observer has never seen Northwestern play a more dominant half of basketball – against anyone, including double-directional and hyphenated schools. The Wildcats were hot from the outside, shooting better than 70 percent for a stretch, and beat DePaul up and down the floor for easy baskets. It would be difficult to play any better.

Lindsey fueled the first-half fire: The junior shooting guard led the Northwestern’s charge in its first-half rout. Lindsey hit four of his first five 3-pointers and posted an impressive stat line of 16 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals in the opening 20 minutes. He scored just 3 points in the second half, but Lindsey still led Northwestern in scoring and assists (7), and tied Law for the team lead with 2 steals. The Wildcats did an effective job of driving into the lane and then kicking it out to Lindsey on the wing, or gathering an offensive rebound and finding him open on the perimeter. Lindsey, probably Northwestern’s most improved player this season, is averaging more than 15 points per game and is currently the No. 2 scorer on the roster, behind Law.

No Pardon, no problem: Coach Chris Collins’ strategy for replacing his sophomore center was on display, even if this wasn’t much of a contest. Freshman big man Barret Benson got the start and played 20 minutes, while Skelly got the majority of time in the pivot and played 26. Benson got off to a good start, scoring 4 of the Wildcats’ first 9 points on a pair of jumpers, including a good-looking one from the elbow. He didn’t do much afterward besides picking up 4 fouls, finishing with 5 points, 3 rebounds, a block, a steal and 2 turnovers. Skelly played his typical high-energy game, scoring 15 points and adding a block and an assist. He collected several baskets by outhustling the Blue Demons down the floor to establish early position in the paint. Collins would like to ease Benson into his increased role slowly, and the upcoming schedule should give the coach an opportunity to do that. Going forward, Benson’s biggest concern may be staying out of foul trouble.