DePaul University Athletics
DePaul University
Georgetown (First Round)
Blue Demons Fall in First Round at BIG EAST Tournament
3/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
NEW YORK - DePaul struggled from the field all evening and dropped a 70-53 decision to Georgetown in the first round of the BIG EAST Tournament on Wednesday. Eli Cain was the lone player in double-figures with 14 points for the Blue Demons.
Eighth-seeded Georgetown led throughout the game and jumped to a 14-6 lead just over five minutes into the action. The lead extended to 10 at the nine-minute mark before ninth-seeded DePaul chipped away at the deficit. A driving lay-up by Darrick Wood pulled the Blue Demons to within three at 27-24 before the Hoyas score the final eight points of the opening half to take a 35-24 lead at intermission.
DePaul (9-22) outscored Georgetown, 11-4, as Myke Henry's bucket made the score 39-35 with 14:32 left in the game. After being held to just five points over the first 25 minutes of the game, D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera erupted with eight straight points and pushed the Hoyas back ahead by 12 with 12 minutes to go in the game.
Following that run, the Blue Demons could get no closer than 10 points for the rest of night and Georgetown (15-17) recorded the win to advance to the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament.
Cain added five rebounds and two assists to his 14 points while Henry scored eight points with five boards. DePaul combined to shoot just .310 (9-29) in the first half and finished the game with a team percentage of .379 (22-58).
Smith-Rivera led all scorers with 20 points while Bradley Hayes and L.J. Peak added 10 points each for Georgetown.
POSTGAME NOTES: DePaul is 2-9 all-time in nine BIG EAST Tournament appearances... Eli Cain recorded his 16th game in double-figures... Georgetown leads the all-time series, 28-7... the Hoyas won all three meetings this season.
