DePaul University Athletics
DePaul University
Northwestern
Men's Basketball Drops Overtime Game to Northwestern
12/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
Box Score 
ROSEMONT, Ill. - There is nothing like a spirited, good old-fashioned rivalry game to get the blood circulating on a cold winter day, and that's exactly what the Blue Demons encountered Saturday at Allstate Arena.
Despite having a three-point lead with less than two minutes left in regulation time, DePaul fell 78-70 to Northwestern in overtime as Aaron Falzon hit a pair of three-pointers in the extra period.
Myke Henry led the Blue Demons with a season-high 24 points and eight rebounds while Aaron Simpson had 13 points and a season-high eight boards. Tommy Hamilton IV contributed 10 points and seven rebounds. Tre Demps led Northwestern (10-1) with 18 points.
A Henry basket and two Erten Gazi free throws gave DePaul a 65-63 lead in early in overtime. Falzon's first three-pointer and a Demps score put Northwestern (10-1) ahead 68-65. Falzon's second long-distance shot followed a Sanjay Lumpkin basket as the Wildcats went ahead 73-65, and DePaul (5-6) could not narrow the gap.
"We lost our sharpness and focus at the end of regulation and in overtime," said DePaul coach Dave Leitao. "Our defense for the most part was good, extending out to the shooters while covering in the paint and doing a decent job of rebounding.
"When Northwestern went to the zone in the second half, we stopped executing. We put the ball over our head and relaxed. They cheated up on the wings and we couldn't drive the gaps or infiltrate the elbow.
"Poor shot selection is a by-product of execution. There's a specific way to beat a zone defense, and we've done a good job against anyone who has zoned us. But a lack of execution has you playing against the shot clock and leads to not taking good shots."
Alex Olah's free throws and a Sanjay Lumpkin basket gave Northwestern a 58-57 lead with less than four minutes on the clock in regulation time. That's when Simpson made DePaul's biggest rebound of the game as the 5-foot, 11-inch senior rose up above everyone and made a play that led to a pair of Henry free throws.
Two Billy Garrett Jr. foul shots made it 61-58, DePaul. NU scored three in a row to tie it. Garrett's shot down low with 25 seconds left was blocked by Olah and Demps missed a jumper at the buzzer.
"We lost focus on a couple of plays that hurt us in transition," Henry said. "We were up by six with five minutes to go. It's just frustrating because we had this game in our grasp and let it go."
DePaul outscored Northwestern 13-7 at the outset of the second half in extending a 30-29 halftime lead to 43-36. Garrett had a basket, three-point play and beautiful wrap-around assist to Rashaun Stimage for a wide-open layup. Henry hit a pair of shots and Hamilton scored down low during the salvo.
The Wildcats came back with six unanswered points to pull within 43-42. Henry hit a pair of free throws and Demps answered with a basket. By the middle of the second half, the Blue Demons had gone just 7-of-15 from the free throw line.
What helped the home team was Olah picking up his fourth foul and going to the bench early in the second half.
A pair of Darrick Wood scores ignited a 6-2 DePaul spurt and a 51-46 lead. The Wildcats came within 51-49 with less than seven minutes to go.
Henry keyed a 6-2 run to provide a 57-51 lead that Demps narrowed to three with a swish from distance with 4:21 left.
"Quite frankly, I felt they were outplaying us the first 30 minutes," said DePaul coach Chris Collins. "We had a lot of looks and weren't connecting. Part of it was us and the rest was their defense and energy.
"They were in a good rhythm and we struggled with their ball screen. They were getting every shot they wanted. We went to a zone and hoped it would throw them a little off kilter. It worked, and we stayed with it."
Simpson opened the game with a swish from three-point land, but Lumpkin followed with seven consecutive points for Northwestern. Garrett picked up his second foul less than two minutes after the opening tip and was replaced by Erten Gazi. Garrett sat out the rest of the first half.
Simpson went on an early tear, scoring the first 10 DePaul points for a 10-9 lead. Simpson scored those 10 points in less than seven minutes.
Wood's jumper and three-pointer sparked a 10-2 Blue Demon burst to establish a 20-15 advantage. DePaul did that with starters Garrett and Henry on the bench. At that point, the home team was holding the Wildcats to 29 percent shooting. Northwestern finished the game shooting 39.1 percent.
Northwestern tied it at 22-22 on a Scottie Lindsey basket, and Henry responded with a three-pointer. Olah's layup made it a one-point game at the final media timeout. NU hit just two of its first 11 attempts from beyond the arc and wound up going 6-for-27.
Another Simpson long-distance connection and a Henry foul shot gave the Blue Demons a 30-29 lead at halftime. Simpson made five of his seven shots in the first half and was 3-for-4 from distance. DePaul hurt itself making just four of 10 free throws.
"Aside from the scoring, Aaron made good moves near the basket, moved the ball well and rebounded well," Leitao said. "When you're getting a game like that from Aaron, that's when you also need more guys to contribute that way."
DePaul returns to Allstate Arena on Tuesday for an 8 p.m. showdown with a No. 21/22 George Washington team that has started the season 10-1.
POSTGAME NOTES: Peter Ryckbosch made his first start of his career for the Blue Demons, giving DePaul its sixth different starting lineup of the year... Aaron Simpson reached double-digit points in the first half to record his fifth double-digit scoring game this year and 10th of his career... Myke Henry played in his 100th career game... Henry played 57 games at Illinois and 43 at DePaul... on the all-time assists chart, Billy Garrett Jr. (256 assists) passed Terry Davis (255 assists, 1989-93) for 24th place... Saturday was the first overtime game of the season for the Blue Demons... DePaul is now 40-40 all-time in overtime games... Last season the Blue Demons were 1-0 in overtime games.
