Spring Break
Ready 'Thabeet' their demons
Marc Gauthier
Issue date: 1/28/09 Section: Sports
It's not easy playing in the Big East; just ask the DePaul men's basketball team.
The Blue Demons (8-12, 0-7 Big East) currently sit in last place with a winless conference record. They've faced ranked Big East foes such as No. 23 Notre Dame, No. 15 Syracuse and most recently No. 8 Marquette. On Wednesday, the Blue Demons will host No. 2 UConn at 9 p.m. EST.
On Monday, the Huskies moved up to their original pre-season rank of No. 2 and received six votes in the AP top-25 poll as well as one vote in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. Duke claimed the No. 1 spot this week.
The Huskies are in the midst of a seven game winning streak - all Big East opponents - and haven't lost a conference matchup since losing to Georgetown at the XL Center on Dec. 29.
More recently, UConn (18-1, 7-1) is coming off a 69-61 win on the road against then ranked No. 19 Notre Dame, snapping the Fighting Irish's 45-game home winning streak.
The Blue Demons come into tonight's matchup having lost seven games in a row. In their most recent loss to Marquette (18-2, 7-0), a 79-77 defeat on the road, DePaul head coach Jerry Wainwright went with his seventh different starting line-up this season.
The Blue Demons find themselves facing UConn as the last-place team in the Big East for the second straight season. And for DePaul players and coaches, this may not seem like a negative.
Last season, when the Blue Demons played UConn at Gampel Pavilion, the Huskies barely came away with a 65-60 win. With about six minutes to play in that game last year, the Blue Demons were leading UConn 57-48 and seemed to be in total control of the game.
After a few forced turnovers, a 3-pointer by Craig Austrie and a dunk by Hasheem Thabeet, the Huskies regained the lead they would not give up with under three minutes to play.
Thabeet finished the game with 16 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocked shots to lead all Huskies in those categories.
"The only reason that we won, I think, is because we have won," said coach Jim Calhoun after last year's game. "There is no other logical reason that comes to mind. [Hasheem] won the game for us far and away; it wasn't even close."
DePaul's leading scorer in that game, Draelon Burns, has since graduated from college. Their second-leading scorer, Will Walker, had ten points for the Blue Demons and has been an offensive threat this year, averaging 12 points a game.
Mac Koshwal has been consistent force in the Blue Demons' frontcourt this season. The 6-foot-10 center is averaging 14.5 points a game to go along with 10.5 rebounds.
DePaul's backcourt features Dar Tucker, a skilled guard who averages 18.6 points and 5.4 rebounds a game.
Most of the Blue Demon's offense comes from behind the arc. The team takes almost 20 three-pointers a game and is 5-2 this season when knocking down at least seven from behind the arc.
The Blue Demons (8-12, 0-7 Big East) currently sit in last place with a winless conference record. They've faced ranked Big East foes such as No. 23 Notre Dame, No. 15 Syracuse and most recently No. 8 Marquette. On Wednesday, the Blue Demons will host No. 2 UConn at 9 p.m. EST.
On Monday, the Huskies moved up to their original pre-season rank of No. 2 and received six votes in the AP top-25 poll as well as one vote in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. Duke claimed the No. 1 spot this week.
The Huskies are in the midst of a seven game winning streak - all Big East opponents - and haven't lost a conference matchup since losing to Georgetown at the XL Center on Dec. 29.
More recently, UConn (18-1, 7-1) is coming off a 69-61 win on the road against then ranked No. 19 Notre Dame, snapping the Fighting Irish's 45-game home winning streak.
The Blue Demons come into tonight's matchup having lost seven games in a row. In their most recent loss to Marquette (18-2, 7-0), a 79-77 defeat on the road, DePaul head coach Jerry Wainwright went with his seventh different starting line-up this season.
The Blue Demons find themselves facing UConn as the last-place team in the Big East for the second straight season. And for DePaul players and coaches, this may not seem like a negative.
Last season, when the Blue Demons played UConn at Gampel Pavilion, the Huskies barely came away with a 65-60 win. With about six minutes to play in that game last year, the Blue Demons were leading UConn 57-48 and seemed to be in total control of the game.
After a few forced turnovers, a 3-pointer by Craig Austrie and a dunk by Hasheem Thabeet, the Huskies regained the lead they would not give up with under three minutes to play.
Thabeet finished the game with 16 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocked shots to lead all Huskies in those categories.
"The only reason that we won, I think, is because we have won," said coach Jim Calhoun after last year's game. "There is no other logical reason that comes to mind. [Hasheem] won the game for us far and away; it wasn't even close."
DePaul's leading scorer in that game, Draelon Burns, has since graduated from college. Their second-leading scorer, Will Walker, had ten points for the Blue Demons and has been an offensive threat this year, averaging 12 points a game.
Mac Koshwal has been consistent force in the Blue Demons' frontcourt this season. The 6-foot-10 center is averaging 14.5 points a game to go along with 10.5 rebounds.
DePaul's backcourt features Dar Tucker, a skilled guard who averages 18.6 points and 5.4 rebounds a game.
Most of the Blue Demon's offense comes from behind the arc. The team takes almost 20 three-pointers a game and is 5-2 this season when knocking down at least seven from behind the arc.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Kyle H.
posted 1/28/09 @ 12:27 PM EST
Actually, it was the XL Center where they hosted DePaul last year.
Post a Comment