DEPAUL'S SEASON COMES TO A CLOSE IN NYC

By Zach Smart

NEW YORK--The callow, young ballclub looked as if they
could stage another Big East upset. We're talking a titanic, monumental
upset that would bury Providence's desire to dance this season.

DePaul--yes, those Blue Demons, the team that worked through the meat and
maximum of their conference slate and didn't come out with anything
other than an 0-18 record--was giving the senior-led Providence
Friars the business before a noon-time crowd at Madison Square
Garden.

Yes, that Providence. The team who outlasted Syracuse and
bombed big, bad Pittsburgh and talked all pre-season about their desire
for a first-ever NCAA tournament berth during their time as Friars.

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So, Jerry Wainwright's nucleus of youngsters--led by an aggressive,
swift scorer in Dar Tucker--gave the black-and-white clad fans some
early jitters.

DePaul forced turnovers (the Friars committed seven
first-half turnovers before DePaul had committed one) and sealed off
7-foot Randall Hanke down low. They put the clamps on the Friars,
forcing Sharaud Curry into some errant passes and poor decisions.

DePaul buried the Friars with a barrage of three-pointers. Will Walker,
Tucker, and seldom-used forward Mario Stula (the Croatian had just
seven three-pointers leading up to the game but canned three pivotal
treys in 13 minutes).

They also featured Tucker, who finished with 30 points on 10-for-22
shooting. The NBA-hopeful has the potential to be one of the top
players in the conference next season if he returns and showed it on the biggest
stage Wednesday.

DePaul had held a thin margin for much of the second half and another
upset appeared to be on its way.

Then, suddenly, the elder statesman on the court thwarted young
DePaul's momentum surge.

Jeff Xavier, Providence's 23-year-old senior, canned an open trey from
the corner, providing the Friars with a 64-62 lead with under five
minutes remaining.

Xavier's three was timely. It injected the life that Providence (7-6 in
their last 13 games) has been sorely lacking during such a high-stakes,
fate-determinant game. Early on, however, Providence was sleepwalking,
playing without passion, as if it was their game to lose.

The three-pointer triggered a vital 8-0 run capped by Geoff McDermott's
coast-to-coast layup. Wedged in between was a strong take to the rack
by Weyinmi Efejuku and a jumper from Curry.

Curry and Efejuku paced the Friars with 25 and 23, respectively. Will
Walker, who went 6-for-13 from downtown, led all scorers with 31
points.

DePaul suffered a late-game drought, surrendering a head-spinning 15-1
spurt they were never able to recover from.

The last thing this team of young guns can do is put their heads down.
They came into this tournament with nothing to lose and scored a solid
upset, sending Cincinnati home packing.

Jerry Wainwright chose the path this young team is on. He opted not to
recruit any players on the junior college circuit and instead build for
the future.

The momentum-pendulum was swinging their way at full force when Keno
Davis picked up a technical with 8:32 remaining.

In a topsy-turvey game that was accompanied by a great March
atmosphere, the seniors staved off a good show by the sophomores.

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BET GAME PREVIEW: DEPAUL VS PROVIDENCE

March 11, 2009


Day two of the 2009 Big East Tournament (see link for tickets) tips off at high noon with DePaul facing Providence in Madison Square Garden.

The Blue Demons snapped an 18-game losing streak with a 67-57 tournament opening win over Cincinnati on Tuesday. The Blue Demons got 17 points a piece from Will Walker and Dar Tucker and they shocked slumping Cincinnati.

The Friars come to New York City as the tourney's 9th seed following a 10-8 Big East conference season. Many thought that 10 wins in this year's Big East would make a team a lock for the 2009 NCAA Tournament, but the Friars definitely look to have more work to do, especially with Cleveland State knocking off Butler last night, likely taking away an at-large bid for the bubble teams.

Here are some pregame stories and previews on today's contest:

Kale Gives Hopeful Friars a Spark (Sun Chronicle)
Friars Defensive About NCAA Tourney Chance (Sun Chronicle)
Frars Aim: Change That New York State of Mind (Providence Journal)
Capsule Preview: PC vs DePaul (Providence Journal)
A Year After PC Fired Him, Tim Welsh Still Roots for Friars (Providence Journal)
With Senior Laden Group, Providence Smiling on Keno Davis (Chicago Tribune)
No So Blue, DePaul Advances (Beacon News)
DePaul Upsets Cincinnati in Big East Tournament Opener (Chicago Tribune)

This is a good news-bad news scenario for Providence College. The good news, they are heavily favored to win and advance to the Big East quarterfinals with a victory against DePaul. However, for a team in need of a win (or two) that means something, beating the Blue Demons, a team that is 9-23 on the season, is not going to grab anyone's attention.

These two teams met back in early January with the Friars victorious at home, 62-54. The Friars had four players in double figures in the win, led by Weyinmi Efejuku's game-high 18 points. The held the Blue Demons to 35% shooting and leading scorer Dar Tucker was just 4-17 from the field.

The Friars have a deep backcourt, led by senior Efejuku and redshirt junior Sharaud Curry, and they have some size with Geoff McDermott and Jonathan Kale inside and Randall Hanke can be a productive player off the bench against a team like DePaul.

While the Blue Demons are playign with house money as a 16-seed advancing to round two of the Big East Tournament, they will be facing a tough uphill battle in this game. Having the experience of one game in Madison Square Garden under their belt should help and the Friars have all the pressure on them, look for DePaul to possibly get out of the gates quicker than the Friars.

But, in the end, PC will take control of the game near the end of the 1st half and begin to set the cruise. If they win, their date with Louisville in the quarterfinals will be their biggest game in some time.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Providence 72
DePaul 61

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DEPAULS STUNS CINCINNATI IN BIG EAST OPENER

March 10, 2009


The first 16-seed to ever play in the Big East Tournament became the first one ever to win a game in the conference tournament as DePaul turns back Cincinnati, 67-57, in Madison Square Garden.

After an 0-18 Big East regular season, DePaul Finally Wins a Game (NY Times) against Big East competition at the expense of the Bearcats. Will Walker continued his hot scoring streak over the last 10 games by scoring 17, which shared team-high honors with Dar Tucker who made the necessary free-throws to keep the thought of a comeback out of the minds of the UC players. Mac Koshwal and Jeremiak Kelly both scored 12 points a piece.

The madness of March has officially begun as DePaul Upsets Cincinnati (Cincinnati Enquirer), handing the Bearcats their sixth loss in their last seven contests. The last three at the hands of South Florida, Seton Hall and now DePaul. Not exactly what Mick Cronin had in mind for his team when they could have pushed for a 2009 NCAA Tournament bid if not for their collapse of the last week.

Deonta Vaughn was the only Bearcat in double figures, finishing with 15 points.

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DEPAUL GETS NEW START IN BIG EAST TOURNEY

March 10, 2009


The biggest Big East Tournament ever tips off today at noon in Madison Square Garden with Cincinnati, the conference's 9th seed, battling DePaul.

The expansion of the conference tournament to include all 16 teams gives the Blue Demons a chance to compete in the Garden Party despite their 0-18 conference record. Jerry Wainwright and his crew have been bad in every aspect of the game this season. They completed their 0-18 conference on Saturday evening with a 48-40 loss at Georgetown. Guard Will Walker led the way for the Blue Demons with 20 points on 9-23 shooting. In 39 minutes, Walker also added 6 steals, but zero assists. Leading scorer Dar Tucker was 3-18 from the floor and added one assist. As a team, DePaul registered three assists and big man Mac Koshwal was 1-2 from the field in 32 minutes. He did have a game-high 12 rebounds, but with Walker and Tucker gunning away from the perimeter, Koshwal goes ignored in the paint.

One month ago Cincinnati was 17-8 overall and 7-5 in the Big East. With a few solid non-conference win, the Bearcats were appearing on the right side of several 2009 NCAA Tournament bubble projections. However, losses in five of their last six, including NCAA crushing defeats to South Florida and Seton Hall last week has left the Bearcats once again limping into the post-season. Last season, UC was 8-5 in the Big East before losing their last five conference contests and closed the season on a seven-game losing streak.


Here are some pregame stories and previews on today's game:

DePaul vs Cincinnati Match-up (Chicago Tribune)
Opportunity at Hand (Cincinnati Enquirer)
Will DePaul Cure UC? (Cincinnati Enquirer)
A Victory in the Big East Would Make DePaul's Season (Chicago Tribune)

These two former Conference USA rivals met in mid-January with Cincinnati escaping with a 59-55 win at Allstate Arena. DePaul lost 16 of their 18 Big East contests by 8 points or more, so the earlier match-up with UC was one of their better chances to win.

Dar Tucker led DePaul with over 18 points a game, but Will Walker has been hot of late, scoring 51 of the Blue Demons'103 total points in the last two games. Over the course of his last 10 games, Walker is averaging 18.8 a game while connecting on 37 three's in that span.

But, after Tucker and Walker, nobody else seems to get many scoring opportunities. Six-foot-10 Mac Koshwal is seldom used in the paint, despite averaging 12.6 points and 10 rebounds a game while shooting 53% from the field.

Cincinnati comes limping into New York City as they continue to look for their first win in the conference tournament since joining the Big East. Their lone win in their last six games came against West Virginia in the emotional return of Bob Huggins to Cincinnati. However, they were unable to gain any momentum from that win as they turned around to be blown out at Syracuse just a few days later and then lost to USF and SHU to close the regular season.

Junior Deonta Vaughn is the UC leading scorer at 15 points a game and doubles as their point guard. That double duty seems to be taking a great toll on him as his scoring has dipped to just 10.5 points a game in their six-game slump.

UC did get a little healthier for the SHU game as Mike Williams returned to the line-up and added 11 points while playing 39 minutes after missing two weeks of action with a knee injury.

college basketball betting odds have UC as an 8 1/2-point favorite in the opening game. I would be surprised if there is a lot of energy in the building as neither team is likely to draw much of a crowd, so look for DePaul to stick around and put up a good fight.


NBE Blogger Prediction:

Cincinnati 61
DePaul 56

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DEPAUL LOOKS TO COMPLETE BIG EAST SLATE 0-18

March 7, 2009


Georgetown will look to avoid being the ‘one’, the ‘only one’ this time. Three years ago, in the last regular season game of the year, Georgetown lost at South Florida and the Bulls avoided a Big East o-fer with the win.

This year, on the season finale, DePaul, who is 0-17, will make their last play of the season for a conference win and it will come at Georgetown.

The Hoyas have been one of the biggest disappointments, especially since they knocked off UConn to open conference play and climbed into the top 10 of the national rankings. It has been a steep free fall since they were 3-2 in the Big East and coming off an impressive win over Syracuse. The Hoyas are now 6-11 in the Big East and likely headed to an 11th place finish in the conference.

Here are some pregame stories and previews on the game:

What Happens to College Coaches Who Can’t Win a Conference Game (Daily Herald)
Sapp Departs as Georgetown’s Heart & Soul (Washington Times)
Wainwright Under Fire, But DePaul AD Preaches Patience (Southtown Star)

Georgetown will look to avoid the season’s biggest embarrassment and keep DePaul winless in the Big East. The Hoyas certainly have the talent to do so, even with Austin Freeman banged up.

Chris Wright should find the match-up with the DePaul backcourt to his liking and Greg Monroe and DaJuan Summers should dominate the Blue Demons frontcourt.

DePaul has been getting a big scoring lift from Will Walker and Dar Tucker continues to put up big offensive numbers, but Walker’s surge seems to have come at the expense of any interior production, an area that if lacking makes wins in the Big East hard to come by, especially on the road.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Georgetown 73
DePaul 55

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DEPAUL ONE MORE LOSS AWAY FROM 0-18 BIG EAST MARK

March 5, 2009


DePaul moves one-step closer to completing their Big East 0-fer as they fall in Morgantown, 82-63, at the hands of West Virginia Wednesday night.

With the win, WVU Clinches a Bye in the first round of next week's Big East Tournament as they improve to 10-7 in the Big East and 21-9 overall on the season. With a date with Louisville for an ESPN Primetime affair Saturday night at 9 PM and the conference tournament ahead, Cultivating a Seed is WVU's New Aim (Charleston Gazette) as their sites are on the post-season.

On Wednesday, senior Alex Ruoff Leads WVU Over DePaul (Times West Virginian) in his second-to-last home game with 20 points, connecting on six of nine from beyond the arc and, in doing so, he tied Kevin Pittsnogle's school record with 253 made three's in his career.

Junior Da'Sean Butler added 16 points and 10 rebounds and freshman Devin Ebanks also added a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds as the Mountaineers owend the boards with a 48-30 advantage over the Blue Demons in the rebounding department. Ebanks and his classmates, Kevin Jones and Darryl Bryant, showed once again the very bright future that WVU has. jones added 13 poins and 9 rebounds in 25 minutes while Bryant contributed 12 points and 6 assists in the win.

For DePaul, it was more of the same as the majority of their previous 16 straight Big East losses before last night. They were outrebounded severely, got little production from the interior or bench and struggled shooting the basketball. Will Walker did pour in 31 points and Dar Tucker added 18. The duo combined to shoot 11-17 from three-point range, which helped keep the Blue Demons relatively close for the first 2/3's of the game.

The Blue Demons will look to complete their 0-18 Big East season Saturday at Georgetown. Maybe they will be able to start anew on Tuesday when they tip-off the 2009 Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden.

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DEPAUL PLAYING OUT THE STRING, TRAVELS TO WVU

March 4, 2009


West Virginia heads into the final week of the regular season before the 2009 Big East Tournament as winners of four of their last five games, dropping the emotional return of Bob Huggins to Cincinnati in that span. At 9-7 in the Big East and 20-9 overall, WVU looks to be safely 'in' the NCAA Tournament and will be playing for seeding in these last two weeks of play.

On the other end of the spectrum tonight is DePaul. The Blue Demons are 16 of 16 in Big East regular season games so far, unfortunatley, 16 of 16 in losses. The low point of their season, just as you thought it could not get any lower, occurred last Saturday when they were demolished at home, 84-63, by St. John's, making 0-18 in the Big East a near certainty with road games against WVU and Georgetown to close the Big East slate.

Hey, at least everyone is invited to NYC next week. Any DePaul fans going???

Here are some pregame stories and previews on tonight's match-up:

Huggins: Sorting NCAA Field a Tall task (Times West Virginian)
DePaul’s Futility Historic in Nig East (Charleston Gazette)
Mountaineers Focused on DePaul (wvMetroNews.com)
Huggins Says DePaul a ‘Huge Game’ for Mountaineers (Register-Herald)
’Truck’ Gets in Gear (Charleston Gazette)
State of DePaul Hoops Just Pathetic (Daily Herald)
DePaul Athletic Director Sticking by Embattled Coach Wainwright (Chicago Tribune)
Huggins Cautious About DePaul Game (Martinsburg Journal)

There really is not a whole lot to go over in this game that has not already been said about DePaul. They do have a couple capable players in the Big East in sophomores Dar Tucker and Mac Koshwal. Will Walker has turned into an adequate third scorer, but from there the talent takes a major nosedize in terms of Big East talent. Plus, their continued upheaval at point guard limits their ability to get the ball to Koshwal and they are usually left with Tucker and Walker launching a high amount of shots trying to keep up with the opposition.

West Virginia has performed quite well this season. They rely on three key freshmen in Darryl Bryant, Devin Ebanks and Kevin Jones and they have seen junior Da'Sean Butler blossom as one of the conference's top scores. Senior Alex Ruoff gives them an experienced leader and a Bob Huggins staple of athletic forwards, such as Wllington Smith and John Flowers, and the resident banger Cam Thoroughman, give this team a very solid make-up. They have had to overcome the loss of projected starting point guard Joe Mazzulla to a season-ending shoulder injury and they have grown up in a hurry in the process. While the future under Huggins at WVU looks really bright, the present is not too shabby and the Mountaineers are an interesting threat heading into the postseason.

Today's college basketball lines indicate little problem for the Mountaineers tonight as they have been pegged as a 21 1/2-point favorite. I do see two factors in this game that will likely keep the game closer than the line...

1) DePaul's dead-cat bounce. After their embarrasing home loss, te players come back and play for pride. As mentioned, there are a few capable players, more than enough to beat someone in the Big East. While that opportunity has sailed, an effort is expected in tonight's game, if not for pride alone...

2) WVU has Louisville coming in for a primetime showdown at 9 PM on Saturday to close the regular season. The chance to be looking right past the Blue Demons is very possible. If not at the beginning, when WVU reaches a big lead, it likely could set in then...

NBE Blogger Prediction:

West Virginia 81
DePaul 66

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