DePaul University Athletics
Men's Basketball Rallies Past USF
2/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) -- Draelon Burns scored 22 points and Will Walker added 21 points as DePaul overcame a 16-point deficit to beat South Florida 69-61 on Saturday afternoon.
Trailing 32-21 at the half, DePaul (10-13, 5-6 Big East) opened the second half by outscoring South Florida 10-3. Cliff Clinkscales found Mac Koshwal under the basket to cut the Bulls lead to 35-31.
Walker and the Blue Demons took control of the game midway through the second half. Walker scored 10 points during a 2:50 span where they outscored South Florida 12-3. Walker started the run with a 3 to tie the game at 45 with with 10:36 left and hit another 3 to extend the DePaul lead to 54-48 with 7:48 left. DePaul never trailed again.
Kentrell Gransberry scored 18 points and had 14 rebounds for South Florida (10-14, 1-10), who have lost 10 straight games.
The Blue Demons shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half after they only shot 23.3 percent in the first half.
DePaul freshman Dar Tucker scored all 11 of his points in the first half as the Blue Demons snapped a four-game losing streak.
Jesus Verdejo scored six quick points as the Bulls jumped out to a 15-3 lead. Mobolaji Ajayi's basket help build a 16-point lead, making it 29-13 with 5:40 left in the half. Solomon Bozeman hit a 3 with 59 seconds left in the half to give the Bulls a 32-21 lead at the half.
Dominique Jones led South Florida with nine points in the half and finished with 11.
Game Notes
Will Walker scored a career-high 21 points... his previous high of 19 points came on January 21, 2008 against Florida Gulf Coast... Draelon Burns led the Blue Demons with 22 points in his 18th double-figure scoring game this season... Karron Clarke and Mac Koshwal led DePaul with nine rebounds apiece... DePaul leads the all-time series, 15-4... the Blue Demons have won their last six meetings with USF... DePaul is now 10-13 overall and 5-6 in BIG EAST Conference play... the Blue Demons are now 4-7 in the season when trailing at the half... DePaul overcame its largest deficit of the year, trailing by 16 points. The previous high deficit overcome was 15 points against Rutgers on Jan. 19, 2008.
