DePaul University Athletics
Men's Hoops Close Regular Season at Georgetown
3/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
CHICAGO - DePaul finishes the 2008-09 regular season on the road against the Georgetown Hoyas in the nation’s capital. The Blue Demons and Hoyas square off at 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. on ESPNU. Georgetown is the fourth road opponent for the Blue Demons in the final six games of the regular season.
DePaul stands at 0-17 in league play while Georgetown is 6-11 in BIG EAST action. Entering Friday’s BIG EAST slate, the Hoyas are in a three-way tie for 11th place in the BIG EAST standings. The Blue Demons are 8-22 overall while Georgetown is 15-13 this season.
Saturday’s game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT start and can be seen nationally on ESPNU with Clay Matvick (play-by-play) and Dickey Simpkins (analyst) handling the television duties. DePaul’s radio duo of Zach Zaidman and Laurence Holmes are calling the game on WSCR (670 AM) in Chicago.
Following the Georgetown game, the Blue Demons open the BIG EAST Championship at Noon ET on Tuesday against Cincinnati. The Bearcats have solidified the No. 9 seed in the league tournament while the Blue Demons are the No. 16 seed. Tuesday’s game will be available live from Madison Square Garden at bigeast.tv (video) and depaulbluedemons.com (audio).
Noting the Blue Demons: The men’s basketball program is 1,356-811 (.626) all-time... the Blue Demons have knocked down at least one three-pointer in 488 straight games... DePaul’s last game without a three was Feb. 16, 1993 against UAB at Allstate Arena... in the last four games, the Blue Demons have totaled 37 three-pointers... DePaul has attempted more free throws than its opponent in 21 of 30 games this season... when knocking down at least seven three’s this season, DePaul is 5-5... during the current 17-game skid, the Blue Demons are averaging 5.6 three’s per game (95 total in the 17 games)... the 17-game losing streak is the longest skid in program history... the previous longest streak for consecutive defeats was 13 games that occurred in each of the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons... the 74-72 loss to Villanova marked the third season in program history with at least 20 defeats... the 1996-97 and 1997-98 teams both lost 23 games... in games decided by five points or less, the Blue Demons are 4-3... in each of Jerry Wainwright’s three full seasons at DePaul, the Blue Demons have defeated at least one top 25 opponent... DePaul has used 13 different starting line-ups this season... the Blue Demons have donned the black uniforms twice this season in a win over UIC on Nov. 22 and a loss at Providence on Jan. 3... only four times in program history have the Blue Demons sported the alternate jersey/shorts combination... they are 1-3 in those games.
The Opponent: Georgetown heads into the final regular-season game at 15-13 overall and 6-11 in BIG EAST play... the Hoyas have dropped three of their last four including a 59-56 overtime loss at St. John’s on Tuesday... DaJuan Summers leads four players in double-figures with 13.6 points per game... he is followed by Greg Monroe with 12.9 points per contest, Chris Wright’s 12.8 scoring average and Austin Freeman’s 11.9 points per game... Monroe leads the club with 6.6 rebounds per game while Summers has knocked down a team-best 47 three-pointers this season... as a team, Georgetown is shooting .471 from the field and averaging 6.3 three’s per game... head coach John Thompson III is in his fifth season as head coach at Georgetown... he is 115-49 with the Hoyas... in eight career seasons, Thompson holds a record of 183-91 with a previous stop at Princeton (2000-04).
The Series: Saturday is the 23rd meeting between the two programs... DePaul opened the series with a 34-29 win during the 1941-42 season... Georgetown has claimed wins in seven straight meetings and in eight of the last 10 games... in BIG EAST play, the Hoyas has won all three games, including a 76-60 decision at Allstate Arena last season... Saturday’s game is the second in BIG EAST play at the Verizon Center with the Hoyas notching a 66-52 decision over the Blue Demons on Jan. 24, 2007.
Last Meeting: Roy Hibbert had 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 7/8 Georgetown to a 76-60 win over DePaul at Allstate Arena on Jan. 8, 2008... the Hoyas scored the first 11 points of the game and led by as many as 24 before holding a 46-25 lead at intermission... Georgetown shot a sizzling .655 (19-29) from the field in the first half while holding DePaul to a combined .242 (8-33) field goal percentage... Austin Freeman added 13 points for Georgetown while Jessie Sapp and Jonathan Wallace each chipped in 12... Mac Koshwal and Dar Tucked led the Blue Demons with 14 points each... Will Walker scored 11 and Koshwal had a game-high 13 rebounds.
Career Statistics vs. Georgetown
| Player | G-GS | FG-A | Pct. | 3P-A | Pct. | FT-A | Pct. | Reb. | Avg. | A | TO | Blk. | Stl. | Pts. | Avg. |
| Koshwal | 1-1 | 6-11 | .546 | 0-1 | .000 | 2-2 | 1.00 | 13 | 13.0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 14.0 |
| Poscic | 1-0 | 0-2 | .000 | 0-0 | .000 | 0-0 | .000 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Tucker | 1-0 | 4-10 | .400 | 2-6 | .333 | 4-6 | .667 | 3 | 3.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 14.0 |
| Walker | 2-0 | 4-13 | .308 | 1-6 | .167 | 2-4 | .500 | 1 | 0.5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 5.5 |
It Could Happen: A win would end DePaul’s program-high 17-game losing streak... a loss will make DePaul the third team in BIG EAST history to go without a win during the conference season... they could join the 1993-94 Miami Hurricanes (0-18) and the 1979-80 Providence Friars (0-6)... Will Walker needs one three-pointer to move into a tie for ninth all-time (Quentin Richardson - 116 three-pointers, 1998-00)... with eight points, Walker reaches the 800-point plateau... Dar Tucker needs six points to move into a tie for 50th (Kevin Holmes - 936 pts., 1982-86) on DePaul’s all-time scoring list... with eight points, he will be tied for 49th (Ken Jaksy - 938 pts., 1953-56) and with 10 points, he’ll be tied for 48th (Jesse Nash - 940 pts., 1961-65).
Demon Doings: Notes following DePaul’s 82-63 loss at West Virginia on Mar. 4:
- The Blue Demons knocked down a season-high (second time) 11 three-pointers... DePaul tallied 11 three’s at Pittsburgh on Feb. 21.
- Will Walker totaled a career-high seven three-pointers while scoring a career-high 31 points... in the last four games, he’s totaled 22 three’s.
- Walker moved into 10th all-time with his 116th three-pointer... he sits one behind Quentin Richardson (1998-00) for ninth... on the season chart, Walker is tied for seventh at 63 three’s with Draelon Burns (2007-08)... on the game chart, his seven three-pointers were one shy of a school-record eight by Burns... Walker is the fifth player in DePaul history to make seven three’s in a game.
- Walker’s four-point play with 3:03 left in the first half was the first four-point play for the Blue Demons this season.
- Dar Tucker became the 14th player in program history with 100 career three’s with his first three-pointer of the game in the first half... he moved into 12th all-time with 103 career trifectas.
- Mac Koshwal went scoreless for the first time in his career.
- DePaul is 0-8 this season when allowing 80 or more points.
- Alex Ruoff moved into a tie with Kevin Pittsnogle for West Virginia’s career three-point field goal record at 253.
- West Virginia is 15-0 this season when scoring at least 70 points.
- West Virginia leads the series, 3-1, and is 2-0 all-time against the Blue Demons in Morgantown.
- In BIG EAST play, the Mountaineers have won all three meetings.
Walker Big in BIG EAST Play: Junior guard Will Walker is averaging 16.2 points per game in BIG EAST play while shooting a league-best .460 (52-113) from three-point range. He’s ranked among league leaders in conference games only in three-point percentage (1st - .460), three-point field goals per game (3rd - 3.06/game), steals (12th - 1.53/game) and scoring (16th - 16.2 ppg).
He posted a career-high 30 points against Marquette on Feb. 3 only to top that with 31 points at West Virginia on Mar. 4. Walker has reached double-figures in 14 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.
Up Next: DePaul faces Cincinnati in the first round of the BIG EAST Championship on Tuesday at Noon ET/11 a.m. CT. The game can be seen online at bigeast.tv or heard live on depaulbluedemons.com.
