DePaul University Athletics
Blue Demons Conclude Paradise Jam Against Norfolk State
11/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
ST. THOMAS, USVI - DePaul wraps up the 2015 Paradise Jam with a Monday afternoon contest against Norfolk State. Both teams dropped the first two games in St. Thomas with the Blue Demons falling to South Carolina and Florida State while Norfolk State couldn't get past Indiana State and Ohio.
DePaul's Jeff Blanzy (play-by-play) and Dave Corzine (analyst) will be handling the radio call Monday afternoon online on BlueTube at www.depaulbluedemons.com. In addition to radio coverage, a live video stream will be available online at www.paradisejam.com. Live stats can be found at www.paradisejamstats.com while in-game scoring updates and notes can be followed at www.twitter.com/depaulsid.
DePaul is at 1-3 while Norfolk State also stands at 1-3 early in the 2015-16 campaign. The Blue Demons opened the season with a 69-63 win over Western Michigan before consecutive losses to Penn State, South Carolina and Florida State. Head coach Dave Leitao is in his fourth season at DePaul and his first since returning to the program after leading the Blue Demons to three postseasons in three years from 2002-05. Overall, the 2015-16 campaign is Leitao's 10th as a head coach at the collegiate level. Norfolk State is led by Robert Jones who is in his third season leading the Spartans.
Following the Norfolk State game, the Blue Demons are off until Dec. 2 when they take the short trip to UIC for a 7 p.m. game at the UIC Pavilion. Between the Norfolk State game and the UIC game, the Blue Demons will have eight days compared to the first 10 days of the season with five games.
Noting the Blue Demons: The men's basketball program is 1,420-945 (.600) all-time... the 81-70 win over Florida Atlantic on Dec. 12, 2013 was win No. 1,400 since start of 1923-24 season... the Blue Demons have knocked down at least one three-pointer in 680 straight games... DePaul's last game without a three was Feb. 16, 1993 against UAB at Allstate Arena... the Blue Demons set school records in 2014-15 with 248 three's and 705 attempts... the Blue Demons are 332-167 (.665) all-time at Allstate Arena... DePaul is 10-1 (.909) all-time in games at McGrath-Phillips Arena... over the last five seasons, DePaul is 13-1 against Chicagoland opponents (Chicago State, UIC, Loyola-Chicago, Northern Illinois, Northwestern)... in the last 10 seasons, the record against locals is 18-5... DePaul faces UIC (Dec. 2), Chicago State (Dec. 5) and Northwestern (Dec. 19) this season.
The Opponent: Norfolk State enters Monday's game at 1-3 following Paradise Jam losses against Indiana State and Ohio... the Spartans lost, 70-61, to Indiana State on Friday before a 93-71 setback against Ohio on Saturday... Jeff Short leads the team with 15.5 points per game while Charles Oliver adds a scoring average of 14.3... D'Shon Taylor is averaging 12.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per outing... head coach Robert Jones is in his third season at Norfolk State.
The Series: Monday is the first meeting between the two programs.
Against the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: DePaul is 2-2 all-time against the current membership of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference... the Blue Demons are 1-1 against North Carolina A&T, 1-0 against Howard and 0-1 against Morgan State... DePaul's last game against a MEAC opponent was a 79-75 loss against Morgan State on Dec. 10, 2008.
It Could Happen: Billy Garrett Jr. (320 free throws) needs nine free throws to pass Curtis Watkins and Bill Haig on DePaul's all-time list... Watkins (1975-79) is 14th all-time with 327 free throws and Haig (1958-61) is 13th with 328 career free throws... on the all-time assists chart, Garrett (230 assists) needs eight assists to pass Skip Dillard for 25th place... Dillard (1979-82) finished his career with 237 assists.
Demon Doings: Notes following DePaul's 83-67 loss against Florida State on Saturday:
- Florida State went 14-for-20 in the first half to take a commanding 43-26 lead at halftime... DePaul opened second half with 8-2 run to move within 11 points, but could get no closer.
- DePaul extended its streak with a three-pointer to 680 straight games.
- Aaron Simpson's 20-point game was the first of the season by a DePaul player... Simpson is also the sixth player in school history to make at least five three's in game without a miss.
- Billy Garrett Jr. passed Dave Corzine (318 FT, 1974-78) for 15th on DePaul's all-time free throw list... Garrett has 320 career free throws.
- The series with Florida State is tied at 3-3... DePaul is 93-129 all-time against the current configuration of ACC programs.
On Deck: DePaul returns to Chicago but plays a road game at UIC on Dec. 2... the game is the sixth all-time meeting between the two programs... DePaul holds a 4-1 advantage in the series... a year ago, the Blue Demons held off the Flames, 72-71, at McGrath-Phillips Arena on Nov. 14... the game can be seen on Comcast SportsNet Chicago Plus in Chicago and heard on WYLL 1160 AM... UIC is 0-2 with losses to San Francisco and Western Illinois... the Flames host Roosevelt on Nov. 24 and travel to Drake on Nov. 28 before hosting the Blue Demons on Dec. 2.
