Blue Demons start strong, fall to rivals No. 18/19 Marquette 89-76

The long history between DePaul and Marquette goes all the way back to the 1917 – 1918, where the D – men beat the Warriors 21 – 17. Since then the rivalry has featured great coaches and all American players that have made this matchup one of the most anticipated in the Midwest.

Even recently DePaul, despite their struggles, has given the Golden Eagles an exciting game at home. Many students remember the Mike Stovall buzzer beater two years ago, that caused the stunning upset 51 - 50.

The stage was set Monday night for another great game after both teams needed a win to get back on track. The Blue Demons would drop this one 89 – 76.

The Blue Demons dropped their last three games and were looking to come out aggressive against the No. 18/19 Golden Eagles. With Moses Morgan and Jeremiah Kelly back and in good shape, DePaul saw this as a potential upset. The Eagles were on the second game of a back to back after losing to Notre Dame in South Bend.

Charles McKinney struck first for DePaul with a two handed slam to open the game. McKinney would get the first four points for the Demons, who would start off on a 5- 0 run. Jamee Crockett and Moses Morgan added a combined for three from beyond the arc to give DePaul a 17 – 8 lead halfway through the first. DePaul played as well as they had all season, scoring at will.

The biggest reason for DePaul's success was that they took chances.

Cleveland Melvin made plays happen by floating around the baseline. Melvin would connect on seven of his 12 shots in the first half by being down low. He was an easy target Worrel Clahar in the paint, and so would shoot a high percentage. Melvin would hit 8 shots in the first including a three, giving him 17.

On defense Mckinney held Darius Johnson – Odom to four points for most of the first half, showing off his intense athleticism. Odom would fare better against Jeremiah Kelly; who allowed Odom to finish the half with 15.

For the rest of the Marquette squad, junior college transfer Jae Crowder finished the half with 4 points, and Jamil Wilson had nine.

Marquette responded quickly at the end of the first half to ease the frustration. The Golden Eagles were forced to press the Blue Demons on each of the last 4 possessions, causing DePaul to lose the ball almost every time. Marquette would put together an 11 – 2 run to close the half.

Marquette would cut the DePaul lead to 43 - 40.

The Golden Eagles continued the run in the second half. Crowder couldn't be stopped hitting 4 of 7 in the second half, and grabbing 9 rebounds. He would finish with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Wilson would go 4 for 5 and grabbing 7 rebounds, finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Marquette had 5 players finish with 10 or more.

"I think that's how we should be playing. We should at least get five guys in double figures. When we're able to play like that it's hard for a lot teams to guard us because you don't know who is going to score because we have so many threats on the floor," Johnson-Odom said.

DePaul was shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc in the first half, but struggled to find a three in the second. This allowed Marquette to force bad shots from the outside and grab missed shots.

Brandon Young wasn't a factor in this one after struggling to find his form. Marquette took Young out of the game early, by closing up his path to the basket. Young who likes to shoot off screens, was forced to take bad shots. Coach Purnell immediately went to Worrel Clahar to run the offense, but even that was too little too late, as the Demons failed to find any consistent scoring options. Clahar had to take matters into his own hands finishing with 16 in the game.

"Brandon Young was just frustrated. He was down on himself. I was trying to pick him up and the team was trying to pick him up, but he was just down and he had an off night," said Cleveland Melvin.

Marquette's momentum was too much for DePaul in the second half forcing the Blue Demons to shoot a meager 47 percent from the floor.

‘‘We were playing hard the first half .  .  . but the second half we got too excited,'' Melvin said.

"Obviously, we got off to a pretty good start and played 16 minutes of good basketball,' 'said DePaul coach Oliver Purnell. ‘‘But we seem to run into that same problem. They played really well [in the second half], and we didn't. We're having a tough time sustaining 40 minutes.''

DePaul's next game is Saturday at 11a.m. at Notre Dame.