Senior guard Billy Garrett Jr. buried a jumper at the buzzer to lift DePaul to a 68-66 victory over Missouri State on Wednesday night at Allstate Arena. Officials reviewed the replay to confirm the game-winner.

DePaul trailed by 13 points with less than eight minutes to go, but Garrett delivered 14 of his game-high 23 points in the final 7:15 to lead the comeback. Sophomore guard Eli Cain added 22 points for the Blue Demons (3-1), who didn't take their first lead until Garrett's pair of free throws with 1:20 left.

Missouri State (3-1) received 15 points and nine rebounds from junior forward Chris Kendrix, whose pair of free throws with 18 seconds left forged the game's final tie at 66-66. Junior guard Ronnie Rousseau III contributed 14 points and senior point guard Dequon Miller had 12 points with five assists.

The Bears came in averaging 95.7 points per game while shooting 55 percent from the floor and 44 percent on 3-pointers and showcased their long-range prowess immediately.

Missouri State started quickly with a 3-pointer by junior forward Alize Johnson and two by sophomore guard Ryan Kreklow. The Bears drilled six 3-pointers in the opening 14 minutes and claimed a 24-14 lead on Kendrix's 3-pointer with 6:23 left in the first.

In contrast, DePaul missed all eight of its 3-point attempts and committed 14 turnovers in the first half as Missouri State claimed a 31-22 halftime lead.

Garrett Jr., playing with a protective mask on his face, committed four turnovers and hit 1 of 3 shots in the first half. But in the second half, he stepped forward with 6 of 12 shooting from the field and 8 of 8 from the line with just one turnover.

The Blue Demons put together a run to start the second half. Garrett turned a turnover into a layup, junior forward Tre'Darius McCallum (10 points, 12 rebounds) soared for a dunk and Cain drilled a 3-pointer to slash Missouri State's lead to 35-33 with 15:14 to play.

Missouri State answered with its own 12-4 run that was triggered and finished by 3-pointers from Rousseau. The Bears stretched their lead to 58-45 on Kendrix's dunk with 7:29 to go, but DePaul didn't surrender.

McCallum produced two layups, Garrett turned a putback into a 3-point play and McCallum turned a steal into a Brandon Cyrus layup to pull the Blue Demons within 60-59 with 3:00 to play.

Garrett Jr.'s pair of free throws with 1:20 left gave the Blue Demons their first lead of the night. Missouri State regained the lead briefly, but Garrett responded with a 3-point play with 48.3 seconds remaining to stake the Blue Demons to a 66-64 lead.