DEPAUL SUFFERS EMBARRASSING HOME LOSE

Somehow, Jerry Wainwright survived an 0-18 conference record last season at DePaul. However, last night's loss to lowly American might have topped that embarrasing mark.

According to realtimeRPI.com, American University entered last night's match-up with the Blue Demons with the 339th best RPI of the 347 Division I basketball teams. Their lone win came against 1-8 Howard. Well, now they have two wins as American Surprises DePaul, 62-57 (Washington Post) at Allstate Arena.

Nick Hendra hit a go-ahead 3-pointer, and Vlad Moldoveanu, in his first game being eligible after transferring from George Mason midseason a year ago, scored 26 points in his season debut off the bench as American upset DePaul.

A three-pointer by Will Walker with 2:49 left game the Blue Demons a 57-56 lead as DePaul trailed by as much as 10 in the first half. It was their last points of the contest and Hendra answered with a three of his own as the Late Shot Helps American Stun DePaul (Daily Herald) in front of a meager 1,500 fans.

Moldoveanu looked like a star in his first game this season after averaging just 2.3 points and 2.1 rebounds at George Mason last season before transferring. With Mac Koshwal or without, this is a game Jerry Wainwright's team had to have, but when your down four in the last half minute and you resport to running a play for walk-on transfer Jimmy Drew after a time out, things are bad. Drew, who came over from Southeast Missouri State, was just cleared days earlier by the NCAA and was taking the biggest shot of the game for the Blue Demons just days later. Ouch!

DePaul was out-rebounded in the game by a margin of 39-27.

Devin Hill scored 16 to lead the Blue Demons and Walker added 13. The loss drops their record to 6-4 ahead of their home date with Texas State this Saturday. DePaul finishes their pre-conference slate with a road game at Florida Gulf Coast on 12/22 and then opens Big East play at Pittsburgh on Monday December 28th.

Let the coaching rumors ensue as even the Chicago media just isn't in it any more as Lindsey Willhite of the Chicago Daily Herald sais that I'd Like to Blog About DePaul, but....

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DEPAUL ROMPS IN HOOPS EXHIBITION TUNE-UP

Courtesy of the NBE Basketball Report


DePaul gave their fans their lone look at the Blue Demons in exhibition action over the weekend as DePaul Defense Dominated Chicago (ChicagoNow.com) 81-36 at McGrath Arena.

Starters Will Walker and Devin Hill had 15 points a piece to lead the Blue Demons' efforts on offense as the Big East squad led their Division III opponents 47-12 at intermission.

DePaul will open their regular season schedule a week from tomorrow (November 17) agains Columbia before heading to the Paradise Jam which tips off Friday, November 20th.

JUCO transfer Mike Stovall was held out of the exhibition because of a sprained ankle. He is likely to be ready next week when the season begins.

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NO TUCKER FOR DEPAUL IN 2009-2010?

April 17, 2009


Could DePaul's NCAA basketball betting odds be worse next season? Well, it looks as though they will not have their best player, Dar Tucker, back to help them improve as Tucker Withdraws from DePaul (Chicago Tribune) to chase his dream of playing in the NBA.

There seems to be a little uncertainty if Tucker will leave open the option of returning to school. The school said he would not return for his junior season, but Tucker told the Chicago Tribune he is maintaining his eligibility by not hiring an agent, although even being a second-round pick would suffuce for Tucker to stay in the draft.

Tucker averaged 18.5 points a game last season as a sophomore for coach Jerr Wainwright as the Blue Demonds finished 0-18 in Big East regular season play. They did manage to shock Cincinnati in the opening day of the Big East tournament before ending their season with a loss to PC in round two.

Blue Demon center Mac Koshwal also is testing the NBA waters but as far as coach Wainwright knows, the sophomore has not filed paperwork to declare for the draft, according to the Tribune.

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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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