DePaul University Athletics
Blue Demons Face Bulldogs in SEC/BIG EAST Invite
12/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
CHICAGO - The DePaul Blue Demons wrap up the SEC portion of the regular-season schedule with a Thursday evening game against Mississippi State in the 2009 DIRECTV SEC/BIG EAST Invitational. The Bulldogs are the third opponent from the Southeastern Conference in a 19-day span for the Blue Demons as DePaul dropped games to Tennessee on Nov. 22 and Vanderbilt on Dec. 5. Following the Blue Demons and Bulldogs is a matchup between Syracuse and Florida.
The Blue Demons are 5-2 and opened the month of December with a 58-50 win over Alabama State on Dec. 2 before a 67-54 loss at Vanderbilt on Saturday. DePaul posted a 4-1 record in November with wins over Columbia, Northern Iowa, Saint Joseph's and Detroit. At the Paradise Jam, DePaul knocked off Northern Iowa, 60-52, before falling to then-No. 10/11 Tennessee by a 57-53 score. The Blue Demons came back in the consolation game to defeat Saint Joseph's, 58-51, to claim third place.
Mississippi State is also 5-2 through seven games with wins in its last two games over Old Dominion and St. Bonaventure. Thursday is just the second all-time meeting between the two programs with DePaul claiming the lone victory in December 1988.
Thursday's game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. ET start at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa and can be seen on ESPN2. Brad Nessler (play-by-play) and Jimmy Dykes (analyst) call the action courtside with Jeannine Edwards handling the sideline duties.
DePaul's radio duo of Zach Zaidman (play-by-play) and Laurence Holmes (analyst) are going global with all of the action on Blue Tube at www.depaulbluedemons.com. In-game scoring updates and notes can also be found at www.twitter.com/depaulsid.
Following the SEC/BIG EAST Invitational, the Blue Demons return to Allstate Arena for a three-game homestand that starts on Sunday evening against the UIC Flames. The American Eagles visit Rosemont on Dec. 16 before Texas State heads to Allstate Arena on Dec. 19. DePaul closes the non-conference schedule at Florida Gulf Coast on Dec. 22 before opening BIG EAST play at Pittsburgh on Dec. 28.
SEC/BIG EAST Invitational Notes: DePaul is making its first appearance in the SEC/BIG EAST Invitational... this year is the third annual event between the two conferences... the BIG EAST holds a 5-3 advantage in the series... St. John's faces Georgia and Connecticut takes on Kentucky at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night prior to the action at the St. Pete Times Forum.
Noting the Blue Demons: The men's basketball program is 1,362-816 (.625) all-time... the Blue Demons have knocked down at least one three-pointer in 497 straight games... DePaul's last game without a three was Feb. 16, 1993 against UAB at Allstate Arena... Will Walker has started 40 straight games... the win over Columbia in the season opener ended an 18-game losing streak in regular-season games... the Blue Demons have won four of their first five games in two straight seasons... in three of Jerry Wainwright's four seasons at DePaul, the Blue Demons have defeated at least one top 25 opponent... DePaul has played its first home game on Nov. 17 in each of the last four seasons... the four turnovers against Alabama State on Dec. 2 were the fewest in a game since four miscues against Chaminade in the Maui Invitational on Nov. 21, 2006.
Opponent No. 8 - Mississippi State Bulldogs: Mississippi State enters Thursday's action at 5-2 following a 105-53 win over St. Bonaventure on Saturday... the Bulldogs have also posted wins over Southeast Louisiana, Bethune-Cookman, Texas-Pan American and Old Dominion... the two defeats have come at the hands of Rider and Richmond... Jarvis Varnado leads five players averaging in double-figures with 14.4 points per game... he also leads the club with 9.7 rebounds per outing and 37 blocked shots... Dee Bost adds 13.4 points per game while Ravern Johnson holds a scoring average of 12.4... the duo combines for 39 three-pointers this season as Mississippi State averages 10.1 three's per game... head coach Rick Stansbury is in his 12th season at Mississippi State and holds a 236-130 record with the Bulldogs.
The Series: Thursday's game is just the second all-time meeting between the two programs... DePaul claimed a 62-60 win in the lone meeting on Dec. 28, 1988... the game was played at the USF&G Sugar Bowl Tournament in New Orleans, La.... the Blue Demons lost, 83-60, in the championship game of the tournament to Seton Hall.
Against the SEC: DePaul is 16-32 all-time against the current lineup of Southeastern Conference programs... Mississippi State is the third of three regular-season opponents from the SEC this season... the Blue Demons dropped a 57-53 decision to then-No. 10/11 Tennessee in the semifinals of the Paradise Jam on Nov. 22... DePaul lost at Vanderbilt, 67-54, on Dec. 5... DePaul's last win against a SEC opponent was on Nov. 27, 1999 over South Carolina... the Blue Demons knocked off the Gamecocks, 58-46, in San Juan, Puerto Rico... since that win, DePaul has dropped six consecutive games to SEC programs.
It Could Happen: Will Walker needs 19 points for 1,000 in his career... he will be the 45th player in DePaul history to reach the milestone... Thursday's game will be No. 100 in Walker's career... Jeremiah Kelly needs five assists for 100 in his career... a win would end a six-game losing streak to SEC opponents for DePaul... DePaul's last win over a SEC team was a 58-46 decision over South Carolina on Nov. 27, 1999 in San Juan, Puerto Rico... a win would also give DePaul its best start since a 6-2 start to the 2002-03 campaign... that squad won eight of its first 10 games.
Demon Doings: Notes following DePaul's 67-54 loss at Vanderbilt on Dec. 5:
- DePaul allowed a season-high 67 points... the Blue Demons have held opponents to less than 30 points in half nine times this season in seven games... Vanderbilt's 40 points in the second half mark the most allowed in a half this season.
- Will Walker led the Blue Demons in scoring for the fifth straight game... he reached double-figures for the sixth time in seven games this season... 48th career game in double-figures... Walker also made his 40th consecutive start.
- Walker now has 981 career points... he needs 19 points to become the 45th player in DePaul history with 1,000 career... Walker is currently 48th on DePaul's career scoring list.
- Michael Bizoukas scored a career-high 11 points for his first career game in double-figures... he also played a career-high 35 minutes.
- Kene Obi made his first appearance this season.
- DePaul is now 4-1 this season when leading at halftime... the Blue Demons won the previous four games when leading at intermission.
- The lineup of Devin Hill (F), Eric Wallace (F), Mike Stovall (G), Jeremiah Kelly (G) and Will Walker (G) started for the fourth straight game... that lineup is 3-1 this season.
- Vanderbilt extended its consecutive games streak with at least one three-pointer made to 736... VU is one of only three schools (UNLV and Princeton) that have made at least one three-pointer in every game played since the three-point line was established for the 1986-87 season... only UNLV (743) has a longer streak than Vanderbilt... the Commodores made a season-low 3-of-13 three-pointers.
- The 67 points scored by Vanderbilt were the fewest amount of points scored by the team in a win this season... the last time VU scored fewer than 67 points in a win was Jan. 14, 2009 in a 50-40 win against Georgia.
- A.J. Ogilvy now has 1,124 points for his career, which ranks 31st in school history... Ogilvy made a career-high 13-of-15 free throw attempts.
- Vanderbilt has won all three meetings between the two program... Saturday's meeting was the first at Memorial Gym.
- The Blue Demons are now 16-32 all-time against teams from the Southeastern Conference... DePaul is 0-2 this season with their final SEC opponent of the regular season coming up on Dec. 10 against Mississippi State.
- Vanderbilt is now 24-37 against teams from the BIG EAST... Vanderbilt lost to Cincinnati 67-58 in Maui on Nov. 23.
The Defense Rests: Through the first four games of the season, the DePaul defense held each opponent to less than 60 points. The last team to accomplish the feat was in Ray Meyer's last season as head coach of the Blue Demons. Meyer's squad posted four straight sub-60 games from Mar. 1-10, 1984.
In the overtime win over Detroit on Nov. 28, the Blue Demons held the Titans to 58 points through 40 minutes before winning the game, 68-66, in overtime. DePaul followed that effort up by limiting Alabama State to just 50 points in the win on Dec. 2.
Through games of Dec. 6, the Blue Demons are ranked 13th in the NCAA rankings by allowing just 56.6 points per game. While it's early in the season, the 56.6 mark is the best defensive effort since the 1948-49 Blue Demons held opponents to 51.1 points per game.
Protecting the Ball: In addition to the stingy defense, the Blue Demons are averaging just 9.7 turnovers per game through seven games this season. DePaul's three primary point guards - Michael Bizoukas, Jeremiah Kelly and Will Walker - hold a combined 2.31-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Kelly has totaled 19 assists to just four turnovers in 33.0 minutes per game this season. In the Dec. 6 NCAA statistical rankings, the Blue Demons are third nationally with just 9.7 turnovers per game.
Starting Where He Left Off: One of the keys to the 2009-10 season for the DePaul basketball team in the continued production of Will Walker. The senior guard closed the 2008-09 campaign strong by averaging 24.8 points per game over the final four games. He shot .463 (38-82) from the field and .405 (15-37) from behind the arc in the final two regular-season games at West Virginia and Georgetown and in BIG EAST Championship games against Cincinnati and Providence.
In BIG EAST play, he averaged 16.4 points per game while ranking second with a .443 (54-122) percentage from three-point range. He was also ranked among league leaders in conference games only in three-point field goals per game (t3rd - 3.00/game), steals (t8th - 1.78 spg) and scoring (t11th - 16.4 ppg).
He posted a career-high 30 points against Marquette only to top that with 31 points at West Virginia and against Providence in the BIG EAST Championship second round. Walker reached double-figures in 15 league games and in addition to the 30-point outings, he's also registered a pair of 23-point games at Rutgers and against Villanova. In eight conference contests, Walker has knocked down at least four three-pointers including a the career-high six trifectas against Villanova on Feb. 25 before a bettering that effort with seven trifectas at West Virginia on Mar. 4.
Through seven games in the 2009-10 campaign, Walker leads the Blue Demons with 17.3 points per game. In his last four games, he is averaging 20.8 points per game while shooting .400 (10-25) from three-point range. He totaled a season-high 25 points against Saint Joseph's in the Paradise Jam consolation game before a 20-point effort against Detroit and 21 points against Alabama State. Dating back to last season, Walker has scored at least 20 points in seven of the last 13 games.
Ranked Opponents: The Blue Demons are scheduled to take on some of the nation's top programs this season. Entering this week's action, the most recent top 25's feature eight opponents on the 2009-10 schedule.
DePaul dropped a 57-53 decision to then-No. 10/11 Tennessee in the semifinals of the Paradise Jam on Nov. 22. A total of 14 opponents are either ranked or receiving votes in the two polls.