DePaul University Athletics
Blue Demons Fall to American and its Romanian Star
12/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
ROSEMONT, Ill. - Don't take anyone lightly.
That was the message for DePaul's players after BIG EAST powers Villanova and Cincinnati were upset over the weekend.
Whether the Blue Demons fell into the same trap as their BIG EAST brethren or were simply caught off-guard, American University came into Allstate Arena Wednesday night and won only its second game of the season, 62-57.
Vlad Moldoveanu made his season debut after transferring from George Mason and scored a game-high 26 points while adding eight rebounds and four assists.
"We didn't have any tape of him, but we talked about him," said DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright. "He banked in those two three-pointers early, and I could tell he didn't mean to because he was smiling. It's amazing how you get your rhythm and confidence when things like that happen.
"We did an extremely poor job of defending him. He gave them a lot of confidence."
Moldoveanu, the 6-foot, 9-inch Romanian National Team star, scored 13 points in a critical second-half stretch to give American a 53-48 lead with 5 minutes, 16 seconds left on the clock.
DePaul's 6-9 Devin Hill had rallied his team from a 32-24 halftime deficit by opening the second half with three consecutive post-up baskets and a free throw en route to a career-high 16 points.
But the 35-34 lead didn't hold up as American (2-8) went on the Moldoveanu-led 19-13 surge that would provide the Eagles with the winning margin. DePaul (6-4) did take a 57-56 lead on a Will Walker three-pointer with 2:49 left.
The Eagles' Nick Hendra answered with a three of his own and Daniel Munoz's pair of free throws with :34.4 to go sealed it.
"If they had watched tape of us, I can't imagine they'd be too concerned," said American coach Jeff Jones. "We hadn't played very well."
Hendra helped reverse that trend on Wednesday with 17 points while Stephen Lumpkins contributed eight points and 14 rebounds.
That was enough to offset Hill and Walker (13 points), the only Blue Demons to score in double figures.
"We were mad that we let one get away," Walker said about his team's postgame mood. "Every one of these is an NCAA game, and we'll look back on this and say it's one we wanted.
"We told ourselves we weren't going to let that happen this year. Near the end, we gave up two uncontested threes. Guys ran out at them with their arms down."
DePaul did not overlook Illinois-Chicago last Sunday, taking down the Flames 77-56 when they came into Allstate Arena---like American---with one win. Wainwright was hoping for a similar effort against an Eagles ballclub that had lost its first seven games before beating Howard for its lone victory until Wednesday night.
"I'm very disappointed," Wainwright said. "We locked up tonight, for whatever reason. It was like we were in third gear the whole game. We didn't have our usual bounce, and it came back to haunt us."
Along with Moldoveanu, DePaul's 6-4 junior Jimmy Drew was granted eligibility by the NCAA for Wednesday's game. Drew's forte is three-point shooting, but he was 0-for-2 from beyond the arc in his three minutes on the court.
Moldoveanu, who transferred halfway through the 2008-09 season, led the Romanian National Team in scoring and rebounding at last summer's FIBA EuroBasket Qualifying Tournament.
He looked like a well-schooled, polished international player, taking the deep threes when they were available, scoring inside when that was open and setting up teammates with fundamentally sound passes. Moldoveanu was 5-of-10 from three-point range.
"We let a guy get going," Wainwright said. "You could see he had that experience to do what he did against our younger inside kids.
"He was certainly the telling factor."