DePaul University Athletics
DePaul University
Seton Hall
DePaul Can't Overcome Second-Half Letdown
1/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
Jan. 12, 2011
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ROSEMONT, Ill. - DePaul was right there after Jeremiah Kelly's big three-pointer in the middle of the second half.
But in the next five minutes and 14 seconds, the Blue Demons let it all slip away in Wednesday night's 78-67 BIG EAST Conference loss to Seton Hall at Allstate Arena.
"We just stopped fighting," said Brandon Young about a 20-7 run that gave Seton Hall a 69-53 lead with 6:39 to go. "We thought it was going to be easy to come back. We let them drive on us, and the biggest thing is, we have to be better on defense."
Kelly's three-pointer had closed the gap to 49-46 with 11:53 left in the second half.
DePaul coach Oliver Purnell said his team's inability to stop the Pirates from penetrating to the basket was the main reason the Blue Demons fell to 6-10, 0-4 in the BIG EAST.
"That's what beat us," Purnell said. "It was Seton Hall's ability to beat us off the dribble and get easy shots for a basket.
"When you lose the battle of the backboards and let a team shoot 69 percent in the second half, you're not going to win."
Cleveland Melvin, who leads the BIG EAST freshmen in scoring, topped DePaul with 21 points and nine rebounds after shooting just 3-of-14 in the first half.
"It was tough when the shots wouldn't fall," said Melvin, who made 5-of-7 shots in the second half. "My teammates told me to keep my head up and to keep taking my shot. I kept my head up and the shots started falling."
Melvin has now scored in double figures the last nine games. Melvin (13 points per game) and Young (12.5) came into Wednesday's game as the top-scoring freshmen in the conference. Melvin also led BIG EAST freshmen with a .572 shooting percentage while Young was first with 3.87 assists per game.
"Even though they weren't falling in the first half, we'll take those shots by Melvin," Purnell said. "He was flashing to the middle of their zone and getting good looks with his quick release."
Jeremy Hazell led Seton Hall (8-9, 2-3) with 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting.
For DePaul, Young had 12 points and four assists while Jimmy Drew added eight points, four assists and three steals. Kelly finished with eight points and three assists.
After falling behind early, the Blue Demons went on a 19-10 run in taking a 25-24 lead late in the first half on back-to-back baskets by Krys Faber.
Tony Freeland put DePaul ahead 31-30, but a pair of Anali Okoloji free throws gave Seton Hall a 32-31 halftime lead.
Both Young and Melvin insisted that the unusual eight-day layoff did not adversely affect their team's performance.
"We just didn't have that energy like we're supposed to for 40 minutes," Melvin said.
The Blue Demons will have two days to prepare for a Connecticut team that is off to a fast start. It will be a 1 p.m. tipoff Saturday at Allstate Arena.
