DePaul basketball dropped a close game to the Georgetown Hoyas on Saturday, losing 68-60. Due to COVID-related postponements, this was the teams’ first meeting of the season.
In the style that DePaul’s become known for this season, the Demons played a close game for much of the first half but began to fall apart early in the second as the Hoyas were able to pull away and secure a victory.
Both teams struggled to generate offense in the first minutes of the game. DePaul junior forward Darious Hall gave the Demons their first points after three minutes of play. Georgetown answered with three consecutive 3-pointers to give the Hoyas their first lead of the game 9-4 and to establish their lead for the rest of the game.
The game was close leading into the break with Georgetown leading 30-26.
“I thought both teams were very sluggish for the first twenty minutes,” said DePaul coach Dave Leitao. “No rhythm, no click, no energy, and the score indicated that at 30-26.”
Charlie Moore kicked off the second half scoring be knocking down a three-point shot to cut Georgetown’s lead to one point, but soon after, the Hoyas went on an 18-0 run that effectively put the Demons’ chance of a win well out of reach.
“It kind of demoralized us. It got us from a workable margin to a 40-29 margin and now you’re playing uphill,” Leitao said. “For us, as I say we’ve got a small enough margin that we have to live in, in order to maximize ourselves, and when we don’t live in that margin, we find ourselves as we did today, kind of playing behind.”
During that stretch, the Blue Demons couldn’t respond. DePaul missed seven shots and committed four turnovers that helped contribute to the Hoyas’ run.
The Demons’ offense struggled for the entire game. Aside from Moore, who led all DePaul and Georgetown players with 22 points, only senior guard Ray Salnave finished the game in double digits for the Demons as well, ending with 11 points.
As Saturday’s player of the game, Moore not only added 22 points on 9-for-19 shooting and captained DePaul’s offensive efforts, he also added two rebounds, four assists, a steal and three blocks while leading the team in minutes. This game also marked Moore’s fifth game of the season scoring 20 or more points.
“We got complacent. Our effort wasn’t there today,” Moore said. “We didn’t have the best defensive effort in order to stop them from scoring.”
DePaul was again without its other leading scorer, junior guard Javon Freeman-Liberty, who missed his fourth consecutive game out on concussion protocol. Sophomore guard Oscar Lopez Jr. also missed this game out with an ankle sprain.
After Georgetown’s 18-0 run, the Demons were able to create a 10-0 run of their own, cutting the Hoyas’ lead to nine, but these efforts weren’t enough.
With this loss, the Blue Demons drop to 4-12 overall and 2-12 in the Big East. DePaul will close out the regular season against the Marquette Golden Eagles on Tuesday night at Wintrust Arena. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. ET on FS1. Tuesday will also mark Senior Night for Blue Demons Charlie Moore, Pauly Paulicap and Ray Salnave.
Photo courtesy of Alexa Sandler | The DePaulia
Maddi Smith (she/her) is a senior studying journalism at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. She covers DePaul men’s basketball for Deceptive Speed. She is also a contributor at SB Nation’s Hockey Wilderness and Zone Coverage, covering the Minnesota Wild.
