DePaul University Athletics
DePaul University
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Western Michigan
Garrett Sparks 69-63 Comeback Win Over Western Michigan
11/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
CHICAGO - There was really only one way for the Blue Demons to welcome back coach Dave Leitao Saturday night before a packed house at McGrath-Phillips Arena.
And the DePaul players took care of business with a 69-63 season-opening comeback victory over Western Michigan in Leitao's first game since coaching the Blue Demons from 2002-05.
DePaul has now won 10 consecutive season openers and Leitao is 4-0 on opening night.
Billy Garrett Jr. led the Blue Demons with 18 points, five rebounds and four assists while Myke Henry finished with 16 points. Tommy Hamilton IV contributed 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Tucker Haymond led the Broncos with 24 points.
Winning the opener portends well for the coach who led the Blue Demons to the 2004 NCAA tournament and a 76-69 double-overtime, first-round victory over Dayton before losing to eventual champion Connecticut. Leitao also led DePaul to NIT appearances in 2003 and 2005.
"I'm really happy for our guys," Leitao said. "They have worked so hard under the new leadership and earned an opportunity to start the season this way."
Garrett was money down the stretch with a pair of driving lay-ups and two free throws for a 59-51 Blue Demon lead with 3:53 left in the game. Peter Ryckbosch followed Garrett's scoring burst by drawing a charging call.
"I was taking what the defense was giving me and driving to the basket," Garrett said. "We weren't aggressive in the first half and took for too many jump shots. Being more aggressive got me to the free throw line."
Two clutch baskets by Darrick Wood and a Henry jumper helped finish off the Broncos who led 35-24 at halftime.
"I challenged the team to drive the ball more in the second half," Leitao said. "I thought Billy had to play with better pace. As he drove the ball more, everybody else did the same thing.
"I like to think of this game as a good step forward."
Down by nine early in the second half, the Blue Demons mounted a comeback with a pair of Henry free throws and his fade-away jumper. After a Haymond three, DePaul scored seven in a row in cutting the deficit to 41-40. Rashaun Stimage came through with some big rebounds in that stretch.
Eli Cain's three-point play and a Henry basket gave DePaul a 45-41 lead as the McGrath-Phillips capacity crowd roared in delight. The big turnaround was sparked by a 16-3 Blue Demon surge in which the home team played stellar defense.
"My halftime speech was not close to fire and brimstone," Leitao said. "We had been making mental mistakes in the first half and not sticking to the game plan.
"My challenge was: What do you do when adversity hits? We certainly had our fair share in the first half and early in the second. It would have been easy for them to stop playing, but instead they overcame the adversity. Tommy, Billy and Myke did a good job of leading us on the defensive end."
A pair of Garrett free throws made it 51-46, but Thomas Wilder scored on a three-point play to make it a two-point game. Wood hit a jumper and Wilder came back with a pair of foul shots with just over six minutes to go.
"We've been working on defense every single day in practice and want to make that our calling card," Garrett said about the steady stream of second-half stops during the 16-3 run. "We defended really well over a 12-minute stretch of the second half. We want to make defense our identity."
Hamilton came out fast with five points and three rebounds in the first four minutes after tipoff in staking DePaul to a quick 9-5 lead.
Western Michigan, which is coming off three consecutive 20-win seasons, responded with a 9-2 burst in moving ahead 14-11. A Stimage free throw followed by an Aaron Simpson three and a Hamilton jumper put the Blue Demons ahead 17-16.
The Broncos came back with a 10-0 run in assuming a 28-19 advantage with three minutes left in the first half. DePaul missed three shots and a free throw in that stretch.
A Western Michigan three-pointer and a bank shot gave the visiting team a 35-24 lead at halftime.
DePaul returns to action with a 4 p.m. game Tuesday at Penn State that will be televised by ESPNU.
Postgame Notes: DePaul is 81-12 in season openers dating back to the start of the 1923-24 season... the Blue Demons are 86-7 in home openers in that same span... the Blue Demons have won the first game of the season eight straight years... in the first home game, DePaul has won nine straight and 49 of the last 51... Tommy Hamilton IV recorded the first basket of the season with a jumper from the right wing... Dave Leitao is now 4-0 in first games at DePaul... the Blue Demons are 10-1 all-time at McGrath-Phillips Arena... Billy Garrett Jr. become the 19th player in program history with 300 career free throws... DePaul leads the series, 21-8... Saturday was the first meeting since December 1987... against the Mid-American Conference, the Blue Demons hold an 80-35 record.
