Looking Back and Ahead
Blue Demons look for 10th win of season on Sunday at Wintrust Arena
Luke Murphy, Athletics Communications
12/6/2019
“It’s tremendous. I mean, even with DePaul being a smaller, tight knit, family community having friends, having student-athletes who are coming to the games and then having family, and even having most of DePaul being commuters. You know, people come in from work and taking their time off, we appreciate that. And it shows [on nights] like tonight, with the support you guys had, with the support we had it was tremendous. And if we can continue to have that, we are going to do our part and continue to work hard, and hopefully we can continue to grow and build off of this.”Jalen Coleman-Lands following the Texas Tech game
CHICAGO – In one of the biggest games held at Wintrust Arena since its opening in 2017, DePaul fans were treated to an instant classic as the Blue Demons fought back twice - once in regulation and once in overtime - to stun last year’s National Championship runner up Texas Tech 65-60 in front of a raucous, lively crowd.
At the center of the win was one of the most clutch performances in recent memory for the Blue Demons by Jalen Coleman-Lands. The sharpshooter from Indianapolis delivered the type of showing every student-athlete dreams of with a game-tying three-pointer with 11 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime before drilling two massive three-pointers and two game-sealing free throws in the five-point victory.
After the game, when students and fans streamed onto the court, it was Coleman-Lands being hoisted up into the air, for a moment of bedlam that he won’t soon forget. The guard in his second year at DePaul since transferring from Illinois, touched on what it meant Wednesday night to have such a lively crowd at the teams’ back.
“It’s tremendous,” Coleman-Lands said. “I mean, even with DePaul being a smaller, tight knit, family community having friends, having student-athletes who are coming to the games and then having family, and even having most of DePaul being commuters. You know, people come in from work and taking their time off, we appreciate that. And it shows [on nights] like tonight, with the support you guys had, with the support we had it was tremendous. And if we can continue to have that, we are going to do our part and continue to work hard, and hopefully we can continue to grow and build off of this.”
For fans and media who have followed the Blue Demons closely since they moved to the South Loop three years ago, Coleman-Lands game-tying three meant more than one thing. Sure it was an incredibly clutch shot that helped push DePaul to 9-0, a magical start to a season that has captured a cities’ imagination, but watching the crowd erupt, it meant more. When that shot fell, and Wintrust Arena absolutely exploded, it signified a new beginning, a new era of Blue Demon basketball had officially dawned.
“The big shot that J [Jalen Coleman-Lands] made to put [the game] into overtime, the building erupted but before that you could feel it, when it was releasing out of his hand I think everybody in the building felt like it was going in.” head coach Dave Leitao said after the game. “And that’s the kind of support that our team gave the fans, and our fans gave the team. And that’s what we have been asking for. That’s what Wintrust [Arena] is all about, that’s why we’re here. That’s why we moved back downtown, so we can have nights like this.”
Talking to Coleman-Lands, he knew it was good as soon as it left his hands.
“Only thing I saw, I ran a flare and it touched my hands and I knew it was going up,” Coleman-Lands said. “And it felt good, so I felt like it was going in, I was just kind of locked in.”
For DePaul, in the months ahead, they’ll get everybody’s best. If it wasn’t learned already from the 18-point comeback against Central Michigan, the Texas Tech game made it crystal clear that this DePaul team has no quit in them. Still, for Coach Leitao, he realizes that as exciting as Wednesday’s win was, in the grand scheme of things it will mean very little if they don’t keep it up.
“I said it the other day, I’m not ready to judge the food we’re eating while we’re on the journey to get to the restaurant, so I’ll look at that in its’ entirety when it is time to, [but] right now we went from eight wins to nine wins, we played a really high-quality team,” said Leitao. “Obviously they’ve got national championship level experience, they’ve got a tremendous coach and so it was going to be a tough task to come in here and win, and we did that. And so we’ll grow from that, but it doesn’t mean anything more. We’ve got to play Sunday and if we’re not successful Sunday, what does today mean? And so that’s where I have to think, that’s the message I have got to give to these guys, and that’s how we all have to understand it.”
Still, anyone that was there on Wednesday night knows that it wasn’t just another win. It was another step towards, as Leitao said jokingly after the game, “trying to exorcise the demons of the past.” It was a moment where, with a city full of eyes on the Blue Demons, the team made headlines for the right reasons. Now, it’s time to keep at it, and see how big this thing can get.
“It’s great,” said Jaylen Butz. “Obviously you know just having such a fan base, and it’s growing, it’s continuing to grow. So I just feel like, more people are becoming engaged with the team so that’s overall a great experience for us, having fans that want to support a winning basketball team. So I feel like, that’s just going to continue to grow as the program grows. It’s just growing.”
