DePaul Nearly Upsets Villanova

DePaul nearly upset Villanova last Wednesday at home, but came up just short losing 74-72. DePaul opened up a six point lead early in the first half, but the Wildcats came back to take a five point lead with seven minutes to play. With just under five minutes to go in the first half and trailing by one, DePaul went on a 14-5 run, closing the first half with an eight point lead. Dar Tucker opened the second half with a jumper, giving DePaul a double digit lead against the then number 12 team in the country. Corey Strokes hit a 3-pointer for Villanova with 11:20 to go, giving them the lead 47-44. Villanova then took a double digit lead with eight and a half minutes to play. DePaul was able to cut the lead to two points with 53 seconds to play on a Matija Poscic lay-up. DePaul was forced to play the foul game down the stretch and Villanova was able to hit all their free throws. Dar Tucker made a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left making the final score 74-72. Will Walker had a big game for the Blue Demons scoring 23 points and shooting 6-11 from behind the arc. My prediction was that Villanova would roll over the Blue Demons and DePaul would finally win a conference game against St. John’s. I was way off. St. John’s easily beat the Blue Demons at Allstate Arena this Saturday. Two bright spots in that game were Dar Tucker’s 24 points and Mac Koshwal’s double-double. DePaul will have two more shots at a Big East win, both on the road. Wednesday they will travel to West Virginia to battle the Mountaineers, and they will finish the season in Washington D.C to take on the Georgetown Hoyas.