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DePaul — the worst ranked rebounding team in the Big East — out-rebounded the Bearcats 25-16 in the first half of Saturday’s game — but rather than harping on the Bearcats’ lack of boards, head coach Mick Cronin acknowledged that the Cats are simply not going to be a big rebounding team.

Instead, he said, they need to focus on what they can do better, and that is continue to be a better offensive team that takes care of the ball.

“I can tell you this, like I’ve said all along — we are not a great rebounding team,” Cronin said. “At times, our biggest player other than Yancy [Gates] is JaQuon [Parker], so we’re not going to be a great rebounding team.”

Cronin attributes the Cats’ recent lack of production to taking too many bad shots.

One of those shots came, admittedly, from junior guard Cashmere Wright, who tossed one up midway through the second half when UC was down 64-62, though he did come back on the next possession to knock down a 3-pointer to give the Cats the lead.

“I was kind of upset that I made that dumb decision,” Wright said. “Instead of passing the ball, I shot that dumb shot up. I had to make it up to my team.”

In the first half of Saturday’s game, UC was 1-of-9 from behind the arc and shot 40 percent from the field.

In the second half, however, the Bearcats shot fewer 3-pointers, made more of them — they were 2-of-6 — and went 15-of-30 from the field.

“We’re hard to defend if we just show some patience,” Cronin said. “In the second half, we shoot 50 percent and are much tougher to defend. We’ve gotta play well offensively.”

Wright, who made 4-of-13 shots for 11 points, scored 7 of those points in the final four minutes and was a key offensive player down the stretch.

“I just want to win — that’s all,” Wright said. “I just went out there and played hard, took what they gave me. Coach [Cronin] kept telling me, ‘Just attack, attack. Whether you miss a shot or not, if you feel like you are going to make it, just keep shooting it and going to the hole.’ ”

Cronin said he was particularly happy with UC’s composure and that Wright, who had no turnovers, did a great job of taking care of the ball. He seemed most happy, however, with sophomore forward Justin Jackson’s performance.

Jackson finished 5-of-5 with a career-high 14 points.

“There’s a reason he’s 5-for-5,” Cronin said. “He takes high percentage shots. Justin [Jackson] shoots layups with his hands on top of the basketball. We wouldn’t have won without him tonight, I can tell you that. He was a big, big factor.”

Jackson also finished with two steals and two blocks. He was aggressive under the basket with the ability to draw fouls, and he went 4-of-8 from the free throw line.

“He played under control on offense,” Cronin said. “If he makes free throws, he’s our leading scorer. “

The Cats didn’t play a perfect game Saturday night, but in their last 10 minutes of play, they out-scored the Blue Demons 19-11, showing their ability to remain calm under pressure and rally for a win.

“It is good to get the monkey off our backs, but there is still a lot of work that has to be done,” said sophomore Sean Kilpatrick.

The Cats will look to get revenge on St. John’s Wednesday at 7 p.m. when they travel to New York for their second matchup against the Red Storm of the season.