The News

DePaul vs. Albany Preview

Saturday, 15 November 2008 10:40 Last Updated on Saturday, 15 November 2008 10:47 Written by Administrator

A new campaign of DePaul basketball begins Monday night, when the Blue Demons host the Albany Great Danes at McGrath Arena. The Great Danes come into the game with a record of 0-1, after losing Friday night to Villanova 78-60. The Great Danes finished the 2007-08 campaign with a 15-15 record. The Blue Demons record in 2007-08 was 11-19.

The Great Danes have gone through a bit of a makeover since last season. The Great Danes are dealing with the loss of do-everything Brian Lillis, who averaged 16.1 points per game, 6.0 rebounds per game and 3.5 assists per game for head coach Will Brown. Besides the loss of Lillis, the Great Danes are faced with replacing their third and fourth leading scorers, Brent Wilson and Jon Iati. However, the return of Brian Connelly and his 10.1 points per game is a welcome sight, and Connelly is welcoming the move back to his preferred position of power forward, after starting the previous season at small forward. Replacing Connelly at the three is former Virginia Cavalier (plus former Nebraska and Connecticut verbal commitment) Will Harris. Harris may be a name familiar to Blue Demons fans, as DePaul pursued the 6’6” forward. Against Villanova, Harris scored 13 points in thirty four minutes. He shared the top scoring honors for the Great Danes with Anthony Raffa, a true freshman who came to Albany from Winchendon Prep. Although Raffa has the size of a point guard, and discussion was that he would be the Great Danes point guard of the future, he is best suited to play off the ball, as he is an accomplished scorer.

Blue Demons land California forward

Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:14 Last Updated on Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:32 Written by Administrator

FreelandPic Rivals.com and ESPN are reporting that Fremont High School forward Tony Freeland has committed to the DePaul Blue Demons and sent his letter of intent paperwork to the University. In his junior season, Freeland averaged 15.0ppg, 9.7rpg, 2.8spg and 1.4bpg.

The scouting report on the 6'5" 190lbs Freeland is that he is a top-level athlete who works well in transition. He has long arms and possess a body that can added bulk without drastically altering his abilities. His perimeter game is still a work-in-progress. One of Freeland's strong suits is defense, as he is classified as a terrific defender. Freeland will be a player who attacks the basket in offensive sets.

Rivals.com classified Freeland as one of the best small forwards that were uncommitted as of October 30th.

Freeland chose DePaul over interest from Kansas State, Marquette, Iowa State, and Oregon.

Photo from FullcourtPress.net

DePaul wins it's lone exhibition game

Friday, 07 November 2008 23:32 Last Updated on Friday, 07 November 2008 23:35 Written by DePaul Sports Information Department

CHICAGO – DePaul’s Dar Tucker scored 25 points and had five rebounds as the Blue Demons stopped Lewis, 66-53, in the exhibition opener on Friday at McGrath Arena.

“I am happy with the team tonight,” DePaul head coach Jerry Wainwright said. “I thought we were loose and played hard. There are some things we have to look at the tape and work to correct, but that is why you play these games.

“Dar had the performance he had tonight because he put together the best week of practice since he’s been at DePaul leading up to tonight,” Wainwright added. “He (Tucker) has been really focused with tremendous energy and it showed tonight. Now Dar needs to keep building on this effort because with the numbers he put up tonight, he will be a marked man in the coming games.”

DePaul roared out of the gates, scoring 26 of the game’s first 31 points, 11 of those by Tucker, and the Blue Demons opened a 26-5 lead in the first 11:21 of the contest. The first half stayed all DePaul as the advantage fluctuated between 17 and 21 points. The Blue Demons cruised to a 42-21 lead at intermission and Tucker finished the first half with 14 points.

Like they did in the first half, the Blue Demons came out strong to open the second stanza and increased the advantage to 24 points (45-21) which would be their biggest lead of the game. The Flyers fought back and cut the lead to 11 at 54-43 with 10:23 to play but after a technical on the Lewis bench, Will Walker hit one of two free throws and Tucker drilled a tray in the ensuing possession to end the threat and seal the victory as the Flyers would get no closer than 14 the rest of the evening.

Along with Tucker, senior Jabari Currie finished with 12 points, eight coming in the second period. Sophomore Mac Koshwal grabbed a game-high eight rebounds for the Blue Demons which held Lewis to under 40-percent shooting from the field (.393).
The Flyers were led by Jason Genova’s 15 points while Brandon Dagans added 13.

DePaul will open the 2008-09 season on November 17 when Albany comes to McGrath Arena for a 7:30 p.m. contest. The game will be broadcast on WSCR (670 AM) in Chicago.

Boxscore

2008-09 Schedule

Tuesday, 28 October 2008 08:18 Last Updated on Tuesday, 28 October 2008 09:02 Written by Blue Demons Nation

Date	Opponent	Location	Time (CST)
Fri, Nov 07	Lewis (Exhibition)	McGrath Arena	7:00pm
Mon, Nov 17	Albany	McGrath Arena	7:30pm
Sat, Nov 22	@ UIC	Chicago, IL	7:00pm
Wed, Nov 26	Detroit	Allstate Arena	7:30pm
Sat, Nov 29	Indiana State	Allstate Arena	1:00pm
Wed, Dec 03	@ California	Berkeley, CA	9:30pm
Sat, Dec 06	@ Northwestern	Evanston, IL	2:30pm
Wed, Dec 10	Morgan State	Allstate Arena	7:30pm
Sat, Dec 13	UCLA (Wooden Classic @ Anaheim)	Anaheim, CA	6:00pm
Wed, Dec 17	Liberty (Vegas Classic @ Allstate)	Allstate Arena	7:30pm
Fri, Dec 19	Southern (Vegas Classic @ Allstate)	Allstate Arena	7:30pm
Mon, Dec 22	Saint Louis (Vegas Classic @ Las Vegas)	Las Vegas, NV	7:00pm
Tue, Dec 23	Creighton or Fresno State (Vegas Classic @ Las Vegas)	Las Vegas, NV	7:00/9:30pm
Sun, Dec 28	Alcorn State	Allstate Arena	1:00pm
Wed, Dec 31	Notre Dame	Allstate Arena	7:00pm
Sat, Jan 03	@ Providence	Providence, RI	6:00pm
Wed, Jan 07	@ Syracuse	Syracuse, NY	6:00pm
Sat, Jan 10	USF	Allstate Arena	1:00pm
Sat, Jan 17	Cincinnati	Allstate Arena	1:00pm
Tue, Jan 20	@ USF	Tampa, FL	8:00pm
Sat, Jan 24	@ Marquette	Milwaukee, WI	1:00pm
Wed, Jan 28	UConn	Allstate Arena	8:00pm
Sat, Jan 31	@ Rutgers	Piscataway, NJ	7:00pm
Tue, Feb 03	Marquette	Allstate Arena	8:00pm
Sat, Feb 07	Pitt	Allstate Arena	1:00pm
Tue, Feb 10	Seton Hall	Allstate Arena	8:00pm
Sun, Feb 15	@ Louisville	Louisville, KY	3:00pm
Sat, Feb 21	@ Pitt	Pittsburgh, PA	6:00pm
Wed, Feb 25	Villanova	Allstate Arena	7:00pm
Sat, Feb 28	St. John's	Allstate Arena	11:00am
Wed, Mar 04	@ West Virginia	Morgantown, WV	6:00pm
Sat, Mar 07	@ Georgetown	Washington DC	4:00pm

Blue Demons predicted to finish 15th in Coaches Poll

Friday, 24 October 2008 08:48 Last Updated on Friday, 24 October 2008 08:50 Written by Big East Conference

NEW YORK -- Connecticut has been tabbed as the favorite to win the 2008-09 BIG EAST regular-season title in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The Huskies received nine first-place votes and a total of 214 points in the poll. The coaches did not place their own teams on their respective ballots.

Four teams received first-place votes. Those four squads – UConn, Louisville, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame -- were bunched at the top of the poll. Louisville and Pitt, which had three first-place votes each, finished with 205 and 200 points, respectively. Notre Dame received one first-place vote and was fourth with 195 points.

Connecticut compiled a 24-9 record last season, including a 13-5 mark in BIG EAST play. The Huskies, led by Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun, have won or shared a regular-season league crown in four of the last seven seasons. This year, the Huskies’ hopes revolve around the trio of center Hasheem Thabeet, guard A.J. Price and forward Jeff Adrien.

Louisville advanced the farthest of all BIG EAST teams in last year’s NCAA Championship, reaching the East Regional finals. This year, coach Rick Pitino welcomes back four starters, including senior forward Terrence Williams, from a team that finished 28-6 and was 15-3 in BIG EAST play.

Pittsburgh is the defending BIG EAST Championship titlist. Last year, as the tourney’s seventh seed, the Panthers took a memorable path to the crown at Madison Square Garden by winning four games in four days. Pitt made it to the second round of the NCAAs and finished 27-10 overall.

Notre Dame will welcome back the reigning BIG EAST Player of the Year, forward Luke Harangody, and expects to contend for the league crown. Last year, coach Mike Brey, the OppenheimerFunds BIG EAST Coach of the Year for a second straight season, directed the Irish to a 25-8 overall mark and a 14-4 BIG EAST record.

The next four teams in the poll -- fifth place through eighth place -- also were bunched closely together. Villanova was fifth with 153 points, followed by Marquette 146), Georgetown (141) and Syracuse (139).

Villanova was 22-13 last year and advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Championship. Marquette finished 25-10 and played in the second round of the NCAAs. Georgetown also was an NCAA second-round participant after a 28-6 campaign that included a second consecutive BIG EAST regular-season championship. Syracuse made it to the quarterfinals of the NIT en route to a 21-14 record.

West Virginia, also an NCAA Sweet 16 team a season ago, was picked ninth with 121 points. Providence edged Cincinnati for 10th place, 99 points to 91 points.

The coaches believe Rutgers will finish 12th followed by Seton Hall, St. John’s, DePaul and USF.

Preseason Coaches' Poll

School	Points
1. Connecticut (9)	214
2. Louisville (3)	205
3. Pittsburgh (3)	200
4. Notre Dame (1)	195
5. Villanova	153
6. Marquette	146
7. Georgetown	141
8. Syracuse	139
9. West Virginia	121
10. Providence	99
11. Cincinnati	91
12. Rutgers	53
13. Seton Hall	50
14. St. John’s	44
15. DePaul	43
16. USF	26

First-place votes in parentheses.