St. John's freshmen too much for DePaul
By Jim O'Donnell, Special to the Tribune, 11:34 p.m. CST, February 1, 2012
Class ended with cruel abruptness for DePaul Wednesday night.
In search of their first back-to-back Big East victories since 2008, against a visiting St. John's entourage that started five freshmen, the Blue Demons blew a nine-point second-half lead to lose 87-81.
Thunderstruck guard D'Angelo Harrison sparked the victory with 29 points on an evening when the Red Storm (10-12, 4-6 Big East) shot 73 percent (22 of 30) in the second half, including 5 of 7 on 3-pointers.
Despite rolling out to a 31-19 lead late in the first half, DePaul (11-10, 2-7) was already back on its heels with the 11th-hour scratch of steady Jeremiah Kelly.
The 6-foot senior — who leads the Big East in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.63) — did not play after being diagnosed with what appeared to be bruised thigh muscles.
Kelly's absence was a non-factor in the early going when Cleveland Melvin and reserve bombardier Moses Morgan were leading the Blue Demons to the 12-point lead.
But after Krys Faber's layup with 4 minutes, 41 seconds left in the half made it 31-19, St. John's switched to a full-court switching trap that completely unhinged depleted DePaul.
The Blue Demons failed to score on their final 10 possessions of the first half and were lucky to walk off on top 31-30.
Still, with Melvin scoring the first six points of the second half, DePaul appeared poised to reassume command at 37-30.
But then Harrison — a 6 foot 3 freshman who had upped his scoring average to 15.8 points per game with 68 points in the Red Storm's last three games — kicked in.
"Our pressure was getting to them and I was finding my spots on the perimeter," said Harrison, who nailed four 3-pointers in a three-minute span that trimmed the Blue Demons' lead to 48-45 with 14:47 remaining.
The game was tied twice after that, the final time when a Morgan three made it 64-64 with 7:21 left. But another Harrison 3 made it 67-64 and DePaul never led again.
A Brandon Young layup with 1:07 to go kept DePaul as close as 81-78 but four Harrison free throws and the last of 21 second-chance points for St. John's ended it.
DePaul's inability to handle the pressure appeared nettlesome to coach Oliver Purnell, who said: "We appeared to have a semblance of control and let it get away."
Said Red Storm interim coach Mike Dunlap, who is filling in on the bench while Steve Lavin continues his recovery from October surgery for prostate cancer: "I know the game was a learning experience for us and I'd imagine it was for DePaul too."
Melvin led the Blue Demons with 22 points and 11 rebounds while Morgan added 19.
Red Storm sub God'sgift Achiuwa supplemented Harrison's 29 with 15 points on 7 of 7 shooting.
By Jim O'Donnell, Special to the Tribune, 11:34 p.m. CST, February 1, 2012
Class ended with cruel abruptness for DePaul Wednesday night.
In search of their first back-to-back Big East victories since 2008, against a visiting St. John's entourage that started five freshmen, the Blue Demons blew a nine-point second-half lead to lose 87-81.
Thunderstruck guard D'Angelo Harrison sparked the victory with 29 points on an evening when the Red Storm (10-12, 4-6 Big East) shot 73 percent (22 of 30) in the second half, including 5 of 7 on 3-pointers.
Despite rolling out to a 31-19 lead late in the first half, DePaul (11-10, 2-7) was already back on its heels with the 11th-hour scratch of steady Jeremiah Kelly.
The 6-foot senior — who leads the Big East in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.63) — did not play after being diagnosed with what appeared to be bruised thigh muscles.
Kelly's absence was a non-factor in the early going when Cleveland Melvin and reserve bombardier Moses Morgan were leading the Blue Demons to the 12-point lead.
But after Krys Faber's layup with 4 minutes, 41 seconds left in the half made it 31-19, St. John's switched to a full-court switching trap that completely unhinged depleted DePaul.
The Blue Demons failed to score on their final 10 possessions of the first half and were lucky to walk off on top 31-30.
Still, with Melvin scoring the first six points of the second half, DePaul appeared poised to reassume command at 37-30.
But then Harrison — a 6 foot 3 freshman who had upped his scoring average to 15.8 points per game with 68 points in the Red Storm's last three games — kicked in.
"Our pressure was getting to them and I was finding my spots on the perimeter," said Harrison, who nailed four 3-pointers in a three-minute span that trimmed the Blue Demons' lead to 48-45 with 14:47 remaining.
The game was tied twice after that, the final time when a Morgan three made it 64-64 with 7:21 left. But another Harrison 3 made it 67-64 and DePaul never led again.
A Brandon Young layup with 1:07 to go kept DePaul as close as 81-78 but four Harrison free throws and the last of 21 second-chance points for St. John's ended it.
DePaul's inability to handle the pressure appeared nettlesome to coach Oliver Purnell, who said: "We appeared to have a semblance of control and let it get away."
Said Red Storm interim coach Mike Dunlap, who is filling in on the bench while Steve Lavin continues his recovery from October surgery for prostate cancer: "I know the game was a learning experience for us and I'd imagine it was for DePaul too."
Melvin led the Blue Demons with 22 points and 11 rebounds while Morgan added 19.
Red Storm sub God'sgift Achiuwa supplemented Harrison's 29 with 15 points on 7 of 7 shooting.