Villanova Hands DePaul Worst Loss of Season
This is going to be a quick post, because my heart isn’t in it today. If you read my preview to this game, I stated that Villanova was a well rounded offensive machine. They were. However, for the first 10 minutes of the game, DePaul kept in reaching distance of number 3 ranked Villanova, then the wheels fell off. It took another 20 minutes for the Blue Demons to re-attach the wheels, but by that time they were down 30.
This game sucked. I was so frustrated by halftime that I went to work out to get rid of my angry energy.
I’m going to start with where things went wrong. After Tre’Darius McCallum decided to let Mikal Bridges get by him, and Marin Maric stepped in with help defense collecting his 2nd foul, creating a 3-point play, DePaul was already in a dilemma. Do you stay with Maric and his 2 fouls, or start bringing in reinforcements? Maric left the game, bringing in Paul Reed. After trading baskets, Bridges used McCallum again, but this time McCallum fouled him. Poor defensive decisions lead to massive foul trouble.
What I am trying to get out is that the game quickly devolved in Walk-ons and rarely used bench players being involved. Advantage Villanova.
Next thing you know, DePaul has 12 fouls, 10 turnovers, zero free-throw attempts, and their opponent is shooting 59.3% from the field including 44.4% from the 3 point line.
Game Over.
The Setup
Villanova only filled the Wells Fargo center half way up, but then again, they may only be trying to fill the bottom level.
DePaul Did not Cover, but if you had the over?
Villanova easily covered the spread and the over hit by 1.
The Player of the Game: Mikal Bridges
Mikal Bridges made the Demons look like fools. 9-12 from the field, including 4-7 from 3 point land. He also went 5-6 from the free throw line. The lucky guy had McCallum guard him for a while, which lead to some easy buckets and foul shots. If we could all be so lucky as to be guarded by McCallum, life would be easy.
Max Strus
Strus went 9-18 on the night, including 3-9 from 3 point land, for 21 points. Not an incredible night, but at least he had a positive offensive rating of 117 (100 being average), while being a help on the defensive end.
No One Else Merits a Mention
The Bad
Eli Cain
Eli Cain went 2-11 for 4 points, along with 4 turnovers.. He had 8 assists, which partially redeemed him.
McCallum’s Defense
It was awful again. Maric and Strus took fouls for McCallum, because he let guys (Mikal Bridges specifically) blow by him. He is truly a defensive liability. I really do not understand it. This dude played half the game and had 3 rebounds the whole night.
Justin Roberts
In 21 minutes of play, Roberts had zero points, 2 assists and 3 turnovers. Minimal impact on the game.
DePaul’s Ball Handling
Twenty turnovers have a way of destroying a game. Most of these came via the Steal. Villanova created 11 steals.
Tweets of the Game
In case you have been under a rock, DePaul Twitter has gone off on the current Administrative structure of the Athletic Department. This has started to gain media attention not only locally at the DePaulia, but in the Chicago Sun-Times. The passionate cries by the fanbase are now getting national traction with comments by Pat Forde, Fran Franscilla, and others. This has been a growing movement over the past 11 seasons, that had clear breaking points for some fans 3 years ago, and pretty much every other diehard fan this year.
The Heat is On:
Facts are Facts
How is @DePaulHoops not Verified? Crazy.
How is the link associated with the handle not a valid link? This is insane!
Seriously, check out depaulhoops.com, the site doesn’t work? Unbelievable.
Final One: Although I can be harsh with the players throughout this blog, I agree with Bubba, Keep grinding guys.
Credits to Whoever Made This Picture:
Conclusion
Villanova looked like a top 3 team in the nation, and DePaul looked like a Dumpster fire.
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