Blue Demons Look To Keep Strong Start Going This Weekend at Boston College
DePaul aims for sixth straight win on Saturday to start 2019-20 season
Luke Murphy, Athletics Communications
11/20/2019
“I thought we did a really good job in our mentality and our maturity especially to handle winning a game like we did Monday night and then coming back and making a good statement as to how we need to play the game. I thought our defense was really good, both what we try to do every day, pressure the ball and using our length and our athleticism, rallying to the ball and those kinds of things and then we took away a lot of what they wanted to do.”Dave Leitao following the Cornell game on Saturday
CHICAGO - Nearly three weeks into the 2019-20 campaign, the Blue Demons remain among the ranks of the unbeaten at 5-0 as DePaul is off this week before traveling to the Northeast for a Noon ET showdown on Saturday with Boston College.
Through five games, Paul Reed is averaging a double-double at 15.4 points and 10.6 rebounds per game while Romeo Weems was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Monday. The 5-0 start is the best start for a DePaul team since the mid-1980s while the Blue Demons have held four of their five opponents to less than 60 points.
For Dave Leitao, Saturday’s 75-54 win over Cornell was encouraging for a variety reasons. Namely in the team’s ability to build on the win at Iowa earlier in the week that brought early-season excitement and interest around the team.
“What had happened on Monday night [beating Iowa],” Leitao said. “I think we made a loud statement that pleased a lot of people and so what happens is that the guys themselves start hearing it from friends, family, fanbase, [and] you can really slip up if you’re not careful and it takes a mature person and mature team not to.”
“I thought we did a really good job in our mentality and our maturity especially to handle winning a game like we did Monday night and then coming back and making a good statement as to how we need to play the game,” Leitao continued. “I thought our defense was really good, both what we try to do every day, pressure the ball and using our length and our athleticism, rallying to the ball and those kinds of things and then we took away a lot of what they wanted to do.”
Through five games you can see DePaul’s identity begin to form as that of an athletic, versatile group that will make you work for everything you get. Speaking after the Cornell win, Jalen Coleman-Lands emphasized his belief that DePaul’s defense can be the backbone of everything they do this year.
“Honestly that is what we try to play off of, our defense first, and let everything else follow so that’s first and foremost. That’s within our control and that’s something that we can always do,” Coleman-Lands said. “We are doing a good job of giving up no threes, we are trying to contest everything, and then rebound the ball. We’ve got to do a better job of that and really just stay in front of our man, and help defense. All of the little stuff, [all of the] details are key for us.”
On Saturday afternoon, one of the most exciting plays of the game came with 18:10 left in the second half and the Blue Demons leading 45-28 as Romeo Weems forced a deflection before getting out in transition only to find himself on the receiving end of a Charlie Moore pass which he slammed home emphatically for an alley-oop. After the win, Weems spoke about his highlight reel finish before delving into the chemistry developing up and down the DePaul roster.
“Yeah, actually that’s my favorite play tonight,” Weems said with a smile, “I had fun. So me and Charlie [Moore] just right away, off the bat from the summertime, I think we just had good chemistry. That’s my roommate, and that’s like my big brother now, so I feel like we just clicked right away and then every day all of us come together more and more and more, and we continue to build on the chemistry with each other I feel like we are going to be a real good team in the future.”
“[Charlie has helped me with] little stuff, like waking me up in the morning,” Weems continued. “We get in the gym all the time together, get shots up, he helps me with my shot, ball handling, staying low. He always pushes me to do little stuff, he’s a little guard, I’m more of a bigger guard, so working with C-Mo [Charlie Moore] is bringing the best out of me, making me a better player.”
With excitement around the program growing, the Blue Demons travel to Chestnut Hill to face a team in Boston College the knocked off DePaul at Wintrust Arena last season. While Leitao is not overly focused on last year’s meeting with the Eagles, saying about the matchup, ‘We’re completely different, they’re completely different’, he does see the upcoming game as an important contest for a Blue Demon team still just scratching its’ potential.
“That is the good thing about it, is that we have a lot of room to grow,” Leitao said. “So we’ll take a day or two to kind of catch our breath, get into finals, and get ready for next Saturday.”
