The Blue Demons dominated the second half and used a 26-0 run to pull away from the Hoyas
Note: This article was written by an incoming writer of ours, Ryan Hodes. He will officially be joining our site as soon as we officially on-board him.
DePaul earned its second straight win on Wednesday night, improving to 3-9 in Big East play in the process with an 82-74 win over Georgetown. The Hoyas — who remain winless in Big East play at 0-11 — were on the wrong side of history on Wednesday night. DePaul’s David Jones recorded the first triple-double in program history—finishing with 22 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists.
It was a tale of two halves in the so-called Battle for the Basement™ of the Big East Wednesday night in Chicago. Georgetown immediately seized control, racing to a 19-7 lead in the first 10 minutes on the back of Donald Carey’s 10 points, and wouldn’t relinquish control until well into the second half.
In fact, up until the 12:42 mark of the second half, it looked plausible that Georgetown—then up 47-42—would get the monkey off its back and win its first Big East game.
But alas, that’s not how things went. DePaul scored a quick seven points before being interrupted by a made Georgetown jumper. 49-49, 11:44 remaining. It’s shaping up to be an exciting finish.
Then, the floodgates opened. Over the next 7:11, DePaul ripped off a massive 26-0 run—fueled by three-pointers and turnovers—and put the game well out of reach. Jones and Courvoisier McCauley drained 2 threes apiece, Brandon Johnson got a three, and Jones racked up 3 assists towards his eventual historic triple-double. The entire DePaul lineup would eventually get in on the action before the fun was over.
By the under-4 media timeout, the score was 75-49 and the game was all but over. DePaul would eventually concede a concerning amount of turnovers in the final minutes and actually pull the Hoyas to their eventual 8-point margin of loss (I’m sure this mattered to some people!). But this final score is deceptive; DePaul clinched victory in their masterful 26-0 (or 33-2 extended) run between the 12- and 4-minute media timeouts.
Beyond David Jones’s outstanding performance, four other Blue Demons scored in double figures (Nick Ongenda, 16, McCauley, 14, Johnson, 11, Jalen Terry, 10), and Terry also recorded five assists and five rebounds. This particular two-game win streak has been particularly impressive as DePaul has been without leading scorers Javon Freeman-Liberty and Javan Johnson. Despite only playing with seven scholarship players, DePaul has been able to get the job done and gain some much-needed momentum.
In a game that was all about DePaul, I’d be remiss not to mention their opponent. Despite a valiant 26-point bench effort from Kaiden Rice, and a double-double from Aminu Mohammed, the Hoyas were again unable to secure a victory, even against the second-worst team in the conference. Just one year removed from their unlikely Big East Tournament Championship and March Madness appearance, the Hoyas have one of their worst teams in recent memory and are now 0-11 in Big East play. In my eyes, it’s only a matter of time before head coach Patrick Ewing is no longer.
Georgetown will have another shot against DePaul on February 24—this time at home—and face an inconsistent Creighton squad at home this Saturday, 2/12. DePaul’s next game is a road-tilt against Big East top-dog Providence, also on Saturday.