DePaul University Athletics
DePaul Begins BIG EAST Play Against Cincinnati
3/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
NEW YORK - DePaul and Cincinnati open the 2009 BIG EAST Championship at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday afternoon. The Blue Demons are the No. 16 seed while the Bearcats picked up the No. 9 slot. Tuesday’s winner advances to the second round to play eighth-seeded Providence on Wednesday.
DePaul enters the BIG EAST Tournament at 8-23 overall and 0-18 in league play while Cincinnati is 18-13 this season and 8-10 in BIG EAST action. Tuesday’s game is scheduled for a Noon ET/11 a.m. CT start and can be seen online at www.bigeast.tv with Tom Gelehrter (play-by-play) and Dalen Cuff (analyst) handling the television duties. DePaul’s radio duo of Zach Zaidman and Laurence Holmes are calling the game on www.depaulbluedemons.com.
Noting the Blue Demons: The men’s basketball program is 1,356-812 (.626) all-time... the Blue Demons have knocked down at least one three-pointer in 489 straight games... DePaul’s last game without a three was Feb. 16, 1993 against UAB at Allstate Arena... in the last five games, the Blue Demons have totaled 41 three-pointers... DePaul has attempted more free throws than its opponent in 21 of 31 games this season... when knocking down at least seven three’s this season, DePaul is 5-5... during the current 18-game skid, the Blue Demons are averaging 5.5 three’s per game (99 total in the 18 games)... the 18-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... the 0-18 conference record makes DePaul the third team in BIG EAST history to go without a win during the conference season... they join the 1993-94 Miami Hurricanes (0-18) and the 1979-80 Providence Friars (0-6)... 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.
BIG EAST Championship History: The Blue Demons are making their second appearance at Madison Square Garden for the BIG EAST Championship. DePaul lost its only tourney game, 75-67, to Villanova in the first round on Mar. 7, 2007.
No Experience Required: DePaul’s active roster features a total of zero minutes of BIG EAST Championship action as Will Walker did not play in the 2007 game against Villanova and Jabari Currie, who did play 20 minutes against the Wildcats, is injured and out for the remainder of the 2008-09 campaign.
Conference Tournament History: The BIG EAST Championship is the third conference tournament for the men’s basketball program at DePaul University. Previously, the Blue Demons competed in postseason events for the Great Midwest Conference (1992-95) and Conference USA (1996-05). DePaul holds an 8-14 all-time record in conference tourney action with two appearances in conference tournament championship games in 2000 and 2004. The Blue Demons dropped a 56-49 decision to Saint Louis in the 2000 Conference USA title game before a 55-50 defeat against Cincinnati in the 2004 Conference USA finals.
The Opponent: Cincinnati enters the BIG EAST Championship at 18-13 overall... they picked up the No. 9 seed after going 8-10 in league action... the Bearcats enter Tuesday’s action having lost five of their last six games... the closed the season with a 67-63 overtime loss against Seton Hall on Mar. 7... Deonta Vaughn leads the team with 15.3 points per game... Yancy Gates adds 10.7 points per game and a team-best 6.2 rebounding average while Mike Williams is averaging 10.0 points and 5.7 boards per contest... as a team, the Bearcats are third in the BIG EAST with 7.35 three’s per game... head coach Mick Cronin in his third season at Cincinnati... he has a 42-51 record with the Bearcats... in six career seasons, Cronin holds a 111-75 record... he was head coach at Murray State (2003-06) prior to Cincinnati.
The Series: Tuesday is the 45th meeting between the two programs... Cincinnati holds a 30-14 advantage with DePaul holding wins in two of the last three meetings... since joining the BIG EAST, the Blue Demons and Bearcats have split four meetings... the BIG EAST Championship contest is the fifth for DePaul and Cincinnati in a conference tournament... the Bearcats have won all four games in conference tourney action.
Conference Tournament History: Cincinnati holds a 4-0 advantage in conference tournament games between the Blue Demons and Bearcats... the two sides played in 1993, 1994, 1995 and 2004... the most recent meeting in the 2004 Conference USA Tournament saw the Bearcats defeat the Blue Demons, 55-50, in the championship game.
Last Meeting: Cincinnati held off a late charge from DePaul in a 59-55 win at Allstate Arena on Jan. 17... the Bearcats led by as many as 15 points at 54-39 with just over seven minutes left... the Blue Demons pulled to within three after Dar Tucker hit three free throws with 2:14 left... two free throws by Will Walker made the score 56-55 in favor of Cincinnati at 1:21, but DePaul could get no closer... Dion Dixon made one free throw and Deonta Vaughn added two for the 59-56 final... Vaughn went 5-for-9 from three-point range to lead the Bearcats with 18 points... Mike Williams added 13 and seven rebounds... Walker’s 17 points led DePaul with Dar Tucker and Mac Koshwal adding 15 points each.
Career Statistics vs. Cincinnati
| Player | G-GS | FG-A | Pct. | 3P-A | Pct. | FT-A | Pct. | Reb. | Avg. | A | TO | Blk. | Stl. | Pts. | Avg. |
| Bizoukas | 1-0 | 1-3 | .333 | 0-0 | .000 | 0-0 | .000 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2.0 |
| Faber | 1-0 | 1-1 | 1.00 | 0-0 | .000 | 0-0 | .000 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2.0 |
| Hill | 1-0 | 0-3 | .000 | 0-2 | .000 | 0-0 | .000 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Kelly | 1-0 | 0-0 | .000 | 0-0 | .000 | 0-0 | .000 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Koshwal | 2-2 | 6-12 | .500 | 0-0 | .000 | 4-9 | .444 | 15 | 7.5 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 8.0 |
| Poscic | 2-2 | 1-3 | .333 | 0-0 | .000 | 0-0 | .000 | 9 | 4.5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1.0 |
| Stula | 1-1 | 0-2 | .000 | 0-2 | .000 | 0-0 | .000 | 1 | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Tucker | 2-2 | 12-24 | .500 | 3-12 | .250 | 3-3 | 1.00 | 5 | 2.5 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 30 | 15.0 |
| Walker | 3-1 | 8-19 | .421 | 6-13 | .462 | 3-4 | .750 | 4 | 1.3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 25 | 8.3 |
It Could Happen: A win would end DePaul’s program-high 18-game losing streak... a loss would set a new program record for defeats in a season... Will Walker needs one three-pointer to move into a tie for eighth all-time (Joe Tulley - 119 3pt. FG, 1999-03)... with two three’s, Walker moves into a tie for seventh (Tom Kleinschmidt - 120 3pt. FG, 1991-95) and he needs three for a tie for sixth (Bobby Simmons - 121 3pt. FG, 1998-01)... Dar Tucker needs one point to move into a tie for 48th (Jesse Nash - 940 pts., 1961-65) on DePaul’s all-time scoring list... with 16 points, he will be tied for 47th (Mike Gillespie - 955 pts., 1971-74)... a win would be DePaul’s first conference tournament victory since an 81-71 win over Tulane in the first round of the 2005 Conference USA Tournament.
Demon Doings: Notes following DePaul’s 48-40 loss at Georgetown on Mar. 7:
- Will Walker passed Quentin Richardson to move into ninth on DePaul’s career three-point field goal list... Walker has 118 career three’s... in the last five games, he’s totaled 24 three’s.
- Walker tallied his 40th career game in double-figures... he led DePaul in scoring for the eighth time this season... the 20 points represented his seventh career game of at least 20 points.
- Dar Tucker moved into 49th on DePaul all-time scoring chart... he has 939 career points... Tucker failed to reach double-figures for just the second time this season.
- DePaul’s 23rd loss tied the season record set by the 1996-97 and 1997-98 squads.
- DePaul is the third team in BIG EAST history to go winless in conference play... the Blue Demons join the 1993-94 Miami Hurricanes (0-18) and the 1979-80 Providence Friars (0-6).
- Georgetown leads the series, 17-6... the Hoyas have won the last eight meetings.
- In BIG EAST play, the Hoyas have won all four games.
Walker Big in BIG EAST Play: Junior guard Will Walker averaged 16.4 points per game in BIG EAST play while ranking second with a .443 (54-122) from three-point range. He’s ranked among league leaders in conference games only in three-point percentage (2nd - .443), 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 on Feb. 3 only to top that with 31 points at West Virginia on Mar. 4. 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.
Up Next: With a win over Cincinnati, DePaul would advance to the second round to face eighth-seeded Providence. The second round contest is scheduled for Noon ET/11 a.m. CT on ESPN and can be heard live on depaulbluedemons.com.
DePaul dropped a 62-54 decision at Providence on Jan. 3, 2009. A potential second round game would be the first meeting between the two programs in BIG EAST Championship play.
