DePaul University Athletics
DePaul Falls At Marquette
3/1/2002 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
MILWAUKEE -- Ninth-ranked Marquette, led by Dwyane Wade with 16 points, capped an undefeated home season by beating DePaul 72-53 on Friday at the Bradley Center.
Marquette (24-5, 13-3) would be the American Division co-champion if Memphis, the National Division champion, wins Sunday at No. 4 Cincinnati (13-2 C-USA).
Cordell Henry added 10 points for Marquette, which had lost its last two games -- at Cincinnati and East Carolina.
Lance Williams scored 12 points and Andre Brown 10 for the Blue Demons (9-19, 2-14), who shot 30 percent (16-of-54). They started 9-of-14, then went 7-of-40.
"You're not going to win shooting like that," DePaul coach Pat Kennedy said.
The Golden Eagles opened the second half with a 12-4 run to take a 53-38 lead. The Blue Demons didn't get closer than 10 the rest of the way.
It was 57-47 when David Diggs went inside for a three-point play and followed with a 3-pointer to end any comeback hopes for DePaul.
DePaul got Marquette's attention early, hitting five 3-pointers -- three by LeVar Seals, who had only four in 27 previous games, and two by Quemont Greer -- in the first 9 minutes. The Blue Demons were up by eight when the Golden Eagles used a 16-0 run in the span of 5:02 to take a 31-23 lead.
"I thought we did a great job after we settled down," Marquette coach Tom Crean said. "We made some shots and got back in the game."
DePaul came back with a 7-0 run to close within one before the first half ended with Marquette leading 41-34.
The Golden Eagles, who had a 37-31 rebounding advantage, shot 55 percent (31-56).
DePaul finished with the worst record in Conference USA.
"It's amazing how a year can go," Kennedy said. "For us, there's a lot of rebuilding to do, but our guys learned a lot of lessons this year."
The sellout crowd of 18,788 at the Bradley Center set a record as the largest to watch a college basketball game in Wisconsin. The previous record of 18,753 fans watched the Golden Eagles beat Louisville on Feb. 16.
