Daily News Photos by SEAN McCOY Will Walker dribbles the ball for DePaul against Northern Iowa on Day 1 of Paradise Jam on Friday at the UVI Sports and Fitness Center.

ST. THOMAS - The 10th anniversary of the Paradise Jam got under way in a big way early Friday afternoon when the DePaul Blue Demons began the tournament with a 60-52 upset of the Northern Iowa Panthers.

The Demons were down by as much as 10 points in the first half before turning the tide and shutting down the prolific outside shooting of the Panthers. After shooting 47.6 percent from the field and 63.6 percent from long range, UNI shot just 7-of-31 from the field and 2-of-12 from behind the arc in the second.

"We did change what we were doing, almost up to full switching," DePaul head coach Jerry Wainwright said of his team's second-half adjustment. "We gave up size, but were able to push out on the perimeter."

DePaul jumped out to an early lead after a sluggish few opening minutes by both teams. The Blue Demons held UNI to a single field goal in the first four minutes en route to an early 9-3 lead. After that, the Panthers offense finally came alive.

UNI's Ali Farokhmanesh hit his first 3-pointer to cut the lead in half and two minutes later hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Panthers their first lead of the game, 13-11.

Jordan Eglseder puts up a shot for Northern Iowa.

The 3-pointers continued to fall for UNI, which connected on 7-of-11 in the first half. Farokhmanesh went 3-for-3 and four other Panthers landed shots from behind the arc to help UNI open a big lead in the first.

Then in the second half, DePaul began slowly chipping away and after a 3-pointer by Mario Stula, the Blue Demons were within one point with just under nine minutes left. UNI's Adam Koch answered back with a jumper to bring the lead back to three, but that would be the last Panthers field goal for the next seven minutes.

DePaul's Michael Bizoukas hit a 3-pointer with just under six minutes left and the Blue Demons were off to the races. DePaul went on a 10-2 run that included seven points and 5-of-6 shooting from the free-throw line by Jeremiah Kelly.

"The key was the last five or six minutes. We went a lot smaller, closed down their 3-point shooting and made some of our own," Wainwright said. "I just told the guys to keep on keeping on and once we got even we were able to gain some confidence. With a young team, these are really important steps for us."

The Panthers finally hit a field goal with 6.3 seconds left on a Lucas O'Rear tip-in, but UNI was forced to foul on the inbounds and the deficit grew from six to eight with two charity shots by Will Walker.

"I thought our guys did a good job taking quality shots, we had an opportunity and just didn't capitalize," UNI head coach Ben Jacobson said.

Kelly had a game-high 18 points to go with eight rebounds and two steals for DePaul. Teammate Mac Koshwal dominated the paint with 12 points and 19 rebounds, 11 of which came on the offensive end.

The Panthers' Farokhmanesh had 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting from 3-point range.