DePaul Drops First Game Of The Season
12/14/2002 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
Boxscore
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame’s Matt Carroll scored 33 points as the Fighting Irish handed DePaul its first loss of the season 102-71 on Saturday at the Joyce Center.
The loss was DePaul’s first of the season and dropped the Blue Demons to 4-1 overall and kept the Blue Demons a win shy of getting off to their best start since the 1986-87 season.
"To borrow a saying, building a program is a motion picture, not a snapshot,'' DePaul head coach Dave Leitao said. "You look at today and it's not a pretty picture, but I like to think over the long haul we'll be better.''
Notre Dame shot 63 percent in the first half, including 87.5 percent from 2-point range, to open a 48-36 lead.
The Blue Demons managed to keep within about 12 points early in the second half until Carroll converted on a three-point play with 11:40 left. Carroll was running across the free-throw lane, stopped and got off the shot as Sam Hoskin ran into him.
Sam Hoskin had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead to DePaul, which shot just 36.2 percent. Andre Brown had 15 points and 12 rebounds and Quemont Greer added 12 points.
The game marked only the second time since 1994 that the two longtime rivals have faced, and Ray Meyer, who coached the Blue Demons for 42 years, was on hand.
DePaul will entertain Florida International on Wednesday at the Allstate Arena. Tip-off time is 7:30 p.m.