DePaul University Athletics
Men's Basketball Posts First Win of the Season
11/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
ROSEMONT, Ill. - Karron Clarke scored 15 points and Jabari Currie added 13 Saturday to lead DePaul to a 59-49 victory over Northwestern, giving Jerry Wainwright his first victory as coach of the Blue Demons.
Wainwright replaced Dave Leitao, who moved on to become the head coach of Virginia.
"This was a big win for us," Wainwright said. "Hopefully this will give some of our younger kids some confidence."
Clarke, a sophomore, and Currie, a freshman, displayed poise in helping DePaul (1-1) maintain a lead throughout the game after trailing 5-4. Clarke added 10 rebounds, while Currie had four assists.
Both Currie and Clark shared the Waldo Fisher-Frank McGrath Award which goes annually to the Most Valuable Player of the DePaul-Northwestern game. Currie became the first freshman to win the award since former DePaul great Dave Corzine captured the initial honor on December 30, 1974.
Northwestern (3-2) managed to cut a 13-point second-half deficit to 52-49 on a 3-pointer by Craig Moore with 2:06 left.
But Clarke answered with a 3-pointer from the corner at the 1:33 mark, as DePaul went on to score the game's final seven points.
Vedran Vukusic was the only Wildcat scoring in double figures with a game-high 22 points (9-16 field goals).
Marcus Heard added 10 points for DePaul, recording his second straight double figure scoring game while Marlon Brumfield added nine rebounds and hit two key free throws down the stretch for the victory.
The Blue Demons don't have much time to rest on the victory as they travel to DeKalb, Ill. on Monday to face Northern Illinois at the NIU Convocation Center. The 7 p.m. game will be broadcast on WSCR (670 AM) in Chicago.