Tag: St. John’s

Hot Shooting St. John’s Sweeps Cold Shooting DePaul

This is going to be a short post.  There will be no video highlights.  There will be no “good job by you” section.  DePaul blew it.  With all the momentum in the word, with a hungry fan base being reawakened, with national media paying attention, DePaul has blown it by losing 6 of their first 7 Big East games.  Could they rebound and win 7 or the final 11 games?  It’s possible, but unlikely because they have lost the ability to hit from 3 point range, while also losing the ability to stop their opponent from hitting from distance.

giphy-17
Throw This Game, and The Conference Season in the Toilet

Quick Recap of the Game

The path to success in this game was laid out in the pregame post, limit turnovers, rebound to a draw, shoot 30% from 3 and hold the Johnnies to under 35% from 3.

Limit Turnovers?  DePaul did great!  They had 3 less Turnovers than the Red Storm!

Rebound to a Draw?  Yes!  The Demons had one more than St. John’s!

I’m loving it, tell me more.  So the Demons Only had to shoot 30% from 3 Point Land and have the Red Storm shoot under 35%?  I like our chances.

From 3, St. John’s shot 40.6% and DePaul shot 16%, and there goes the Conference season.

giphy-18
When your crappy shooting opponent shoots 40% from 3 and you shoot 16%

DePaul Struggled in the first half but went to the half tied.  LJ Figueroa of St. John’s killed the Demons going 5-9 from 3 point range almost single-handedly keeping the Red Storm in the game.  After starting 2-6 from 3 point land, The Demons went 1 for their next 7 in the half to end 3-13 (23%) from 3.  Charlie Moore had 5 assists and zero turnovers. No one player shot particularly well.

giphy-15

DePaul’s plan was to throw it inside and overpower the Red Storm.  This sounded great on paper, but it seemed like any time the Demons received the ball, the ball was being slapped or bumped, and the close shots ended up not being easy buckets.  From inside the arc, DePaul was 9-17 (53.%) in the half.  The Johnnies were 3-9 (33.3%) from 2, and 32% from 3, making 7 key 3 pointers.  This illustrates 3 point math.  DePaul had 18 points from 2 on 53% shooting, St. John’s had 21 points from 3 on 32% shooting.  It’s crazy!  3 is greater than 2!

The 2nd Half

Mustapha Heron started the half with a 3 pointer and began warming up.  With 17:18 left, Paul Reed hit 1 of 2 free-throws to put DePaul up for the last time in the game.  A 3 and a half minute drought by DePaul signaled their doom.  The Johnnies hit 2 layups and 2 three pointers to go up 9.

It took until 6:51 for DePaul to get back within 3.  After a couple of near steals and immediate turning the ball back over, the wheels fell off.   A dunk, a jumper, and a back breaking 3 pointer brought the score to 63-55, and the game never really felt in doubt again.  Ultimately, DePaul lost by 13.  DePaul managed to go 7-23 (30.4%) from 2 and 1-12 (8.33%) from 3 in the 2nd half.  Unbelievable.

Continue reading “Hot Shooting St. John’s Sweeps Cold Shooting DePaul” →

Blue Demons Host St. John’s: Vincentian Throw Down II

DePaul Looks to Split the Season Series

On January 11th, DePaul travelled to New York to play St. John’s.  In a hotly contested game, the Red Storm prevailed after DePaul’s Jalen Coleman-Lands failed to connect on 2 of 3 free throws that would have narrowed the gap to 2 points.  After St. John’s knocked down several free-throws, DePaul ultimately lost by 7.

 

cropped-white-demon

Continue reading “Blue Demons Host St. John’s: Vincentian Throw Down II” →

Demons Downed By Johnnies

DePaul 0-3 in Big East Play, Trouble Brewing

In a game that both teams needed, the St. Johns’s Red Storm prevailed in an ugly, forgettable victory.

Not all was bad at first.  Charlie Moore hit a 3 pointer at the 16 minute mark.  We like when Charlie finds his long-distance stroke.  DePaul took at six point lead at 13-7 with 14:31 in the half.  The players were playing loose and confident.  Of course, it rapidly changed after that.  A quick 3, a turnover leading to a layup, and it was a one point game.  From that point on, the Demons were never up by more than 4 points.  The teams exchanged the lead several times for the next few minutes until the Red Storm began to take control of the game taking a lead that they would never relinquish with 6:12 to go in the 1st half.  DePaul went over 3 minutes without a point, during which the Jonnies went on a 10-0 run getting the lead to 6 points.

With 1:24 left in the half, Paul Reed finally got on the board to cut the St. John’s lead to 3.  DePaul  played strong defense to get the ball back with the chance to tie and 1:09 left in the half.  Then badness occurred.  Moore missed a layup, DePaul played excellent defense again, getting the ball with 32 left.  After running the clock down to less then 10, Devin Gage missed a wild shot which lead to this awful sequence.

So instead of being down 1 or being tied, the Blue Demons found themselves down 5 and extremely hot-headed going into the locker room.

giphy-7

Continue reading “Demons Downed By Johnnies” →

Demons in New York: Vincentian Throw Down as DePaul Visits St. John’s

Let’s Start With a Little History Between These Coaches…

March 2, 2005 was a big night of truth for the DePaul Blue Demons.  Firmly on the bubble, DePaul traveled to Birmingham to take on the University of Alabama-Birmingham Blazers.  The winner of the game would have the upper hand going into the Conference USA tournament and, mostly likely, move up and off the NCAA tournament bubble.

The coaches that night were Dave Leitao, in his final year of his first term at DePaul, and St. John’s Mike Anderson, who was in his 3rd year at UAB after several years as Nolan Richardson’s top assistant at Arkansas.  Anderson brought with him Richardson’s famed “40 Minutes of Hell” defense and fast paced, three point shooting and layup lined offense.

ARKANSAS V UCLA
Corliss, I want to point out that I, Nolan Richardson, invented the 40 Minutes of Hell, and We won a National Championship using it.

This Blue Demon team was one of the last good teams that DePaul has had.  Lead by Drake Deiner, Sammy Mejia, and Quemont Greer, the Demons came into the game 18-7 with a 10-4 record in conference.  A victory would seal a first round bye in the conference tournament and get them closer to being in the NCAA Tournament.  UAB came into the game 8-6 with a need to win their last two games to get the important bye.

The game went back and forth.  The Demons were up 2 at the half, and took their largest lead of 8 in the second half.  Then the pace and the pressure took its toll on DePaul. UAB tied the game late sending it to overtime.  In overtime, UAB hit a 3 pointer with 24 seconds left.  DePaul set up Diener for a 3 pointer, which he missed.  DePaul rebounded and set up another 3 point shot.  Ultimately hitting a 2 pointer shot with a second left losing by a single point.  DePaul lost their regular season finale to Louisville and UAB won theirs to secure the 4th seed and 1st round bye in the C-USA tournament.

8 days later, after DePaul won their first round game against Tulane, the Demons once again faced UAB in the quarterfinals.  The winner would go to the NCAA tournament and the loser would go to the NIT.

Another back and forth game with DePaul going up by 10 with a little under 10 minutes left in the game.  The frenetic UAB defense chipped away at the lead, and with 1:28 UAB hit a 3 pointer to gain their first lead of the game.  Mejia scored a game tying free-throw.  DePaul got a defensive stop and got the ball to Drake Diener with the hope that he would get fouled and be the iceman that he was.  Under intense pressure, UAB forced Diener into a walk.  UAB then made a 3 pointer leaving .7 seconds on the clock and DePaul lost.  Two brutal losses, in which DePaul had the lead with less than 2 minutes to go in both game.

3117-764007Fr
I didn’t travel.  That was a damn foul Mr. Referee.  Damn Your Eyes.

UAB lost to an excellent, Final Four Louisville team in the next round but was selected to the NCAA tournament the next day.  The Blazers won their 1st round game, before being knocked out by the Arizona team that almost knocked Illinois out of the tournament at Allstate Arena.

Meanwhile, DePaul was selected to the NIT, where they beat Mizzou but lost to Texas A&M.  Dave Leitao left for Virginia, and a year later, Mike Anderson left for Mizzou.

cropped-white-demon

Continue reading “Demons in New York: Vincentian Throw Down as DePaul Visits St. John’s” →

DePaul Lets It Slip Away in the Last 4 minutes versus St. John’s

cropped-white-demon-e1515450555406

Costly Turnovers, Ill Advised Shots, and a Missed 3 over Final Minutes cause DePaul to Lose to Red Storm by One

In an offensive game that DePaul lead by as many as nine points, the Blue Demon failed to execute over the final 4 minutes.

Continue reading “DePaul Lets It Slip Away in the Last 4 minutes versus St. John’s” →

DePaul Hosts St. John’s: The Preview II

cropped-cropped-white-demon.jpg

The Blue Demons Try to Sweep the Resurgent Red Storm in the Vincentian Throwdown Part II

The Setup

Love, or confused status with your loved one, will be displayed on Wednesday night as DePaul hosts the St. John’s Red Storm on Valentine’s Day, Wednesday, 2/14/2018 at 8:00 pm Central at the “Please God let us Win a Conference Home game at” Wintrust Arena in the South Loop of Chicago.  It will be carried on CBSSN (Channel 232 on Comcast) and on the WIND (Radio 560).

After famously going on a 0-11 start to conference play, St. John’s comes into the game as the hottest team on the planet with fiery flames burning out of the orifices.  In the past 2 weeks, the Red Storm (which describes the color of the flames that are burning out of their orifices) have beaten Duke, Villanova, and Marquette.

Beware, The Red Storm is marching to Chicago

Continue reading “DePaul Hosts St. John’s: The Preview II” →

DePaul Defeats St. John’s Winning First Big East Game of Season

white demon

St. John’s Decides Not to Press the Demons; Poor Choice

We DePaul fans know our weaknesses (ball handling and shooting).  Our opponents should know our weakness.  Somehow, someway, St. John’s decided to not pressure the Demon ball handlers, the Demons made shots, and DePaul came away with the victory.

Continue reading “DePaul Defeats St. John’s Winning First Big East Game of Season” →