DePaul University
Oklahoma State
DePaul Drops 76 Classic Opener Against Oklahoma State
11/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
Nov. 25, 2010
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Marshall Moses scored a career-high 27 points, including two free throws with 5.3 seconds left, to help Oklahoma State beat DePaul 60-56 on Thursday in the first round of the 76 Classic.
Moses also had nine rebounds and Keiton Page scored 11 points for the Cowboys (4-0), who will play Virginia Tech on Friday.
Mike Stovall led the Blue Demons (1-2) with 13 points. Jeremiah Kelly, Krys Faber and Brandon Young had 10 each.
Kelly scored DePaul's final points on a tip-in with 7 seconds left to cut it to 58-56. The Blue Demons held their last lead when Stovall made a free throw for a 52-50 edge with 3:32 left.
The teams were tied 27-27 at halftime and deadlocked six times in the second half.
Oklahoma State outrebounded DePaul 40-27 but committed 25 turnovers.
Postgame Quotes - Oklahoma State 60, DePaul 56
DePaul Coach Oliver Purnell
"We're disappointed in the loss. I thought we did a pretty good job in the first half on the backboards. Oklahoma State has a big strong inside presence. They really bothered us. Shots didn't go down for us. We really shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times, especially with a technical. We played hard for forty minutes, and it gave us a chance to win. That would've been a great win for us. Oklahoma State is a fine team. If we continue to play basketball like that, tighten up some things, make some shots, we got a chance to do some things."
On Oklahoma State - "This is a Big East-caliber team, and this is the type of team we'll play from a physical standpoint. They're well coached and tough-minded. Yet at the same time, it tells us that we could do some things with our style. Would've liked to see our team finish more, shoot the ball a little better, but Oklahoma State is a good team, they made their free throws down the stretch. However, our guys put ourselves in position to win, we got to close the deal in a position like that."
On bouncing back tomorrow - "We're in a great tournament, and whenever that's the case, the matchup tomorrow night will be tough. If we get the win, it will be a meaningful one, for your team to move forward. We have another opportunity tomorrow. It's not a like a season-ending tournament. I was in this tournament with Clemson last year, and one of the things I'll talk about with my team is my experience last year. We came in 1-2 last year, lost our first round game (in the 2009 76 Classic), won our next two in the tournament, and that really got us on a roll. Because it's such a great tournament, it's really important to understand the opportunity you have the next day, after a tough loss."
Oklahoma State Coach Travis Ford
"I thought it was two teams who played very hard. It wasn't pretty at either end. I got a lot of respect for Coach [Oliver] Purnell. One of the best coaches in our profession. He has a young team, trying to learn a new style, and they scrapped and played their hearts out. I thought we also scrapped. We had one player that put us over the top (Marhsall Moses). He scored when he had to score, he rebounded pretty well, which you need to do in a low-scoring game. When neither team is scoring a lot, you need to control the glass. We wanted to learn about ourselves in this tournament. It's great that we won, but we need learn to keep hold of the basketball, handle traps. This is a good learning lesson for us, but I have a lot of respect for DePaul and Coach Purnell."
On Forward Marshall Moses - "He brought tremendous amount of energy, and loved how he scored in different ways tonight, off offensive rebounds, from the free-throw line, 15 footers. He pretty much had a good all-around game tonight. Great defense, great rebounding, he pretty much held down the fort for us."
On tomorrow's opponent Virginia Tech - "We got our hands full. It's an incredible challenge for our young basketball team. We got a lot of respect for Virginia Tech, they could make a big-time run in the NCAA tournament. They're very experienced, very big, got great guards, not many weaknesses on their team."
