Frigid DePaul Gets Trounced at Northwestern

EVANSTON - The DePaul Blue Demons (4-2) went ice cold on a December day in their 63-36 loss to cross-town rival Northwestern (6-1). Playing without sophomore forward Mac Koshwal, the Demons failed to execute on offense and shot an embarrassing 24.1% from the field on Saturday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

The 36 point offensive output was the worst by a DePaul team since the Blue Demons lost 37-26 to Oklahoma A&M on Jan. 29, 1949. “We haven’t shot the ball real well the last two games,” said DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright. “Cold isn’t the word. I thought we had good looks at times.”

The Demons shot 20% from behind the arc. “We could see that they were heavy-legged,” said Northwestern coach Bill Carmody.

It was the Kevin Coble show as the junior forward scored 25 points for Northwestern on his way to earning his second Waldo Fisher-Frank McGrath award in three years as the most valuable player of the game. Coble was 11 of 19 from the field.

DePaul was without Koshwal due to concern over plantar fasciitis in his left foot and is day-to-day as the Demons are taking a cautious approach. “He’s in an aggressive rehab situation,” said Wainwright. “If this had been late in the year, there are ways to get him out on the floor, as a young player none of that is worth (the risk of further injury).”

The Wildcats started the game out on a 7-0 run and things snowballed from there as they reached a 31-15 lead by halftime.

Without Koshwal in the lineup, Northwestern chose to double-team DePaul’s lead scorer Dar Tucker.

“It worked,” said Tucker who finished with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds while shooting six of 20 from the field. “They were double-teaming me every chance when I went to the basket. That’s what it takes. To stop people, that’s what you do.”

“He’s such a good player,” said Coble. “He’ll be in the NBA. Coach has talked about just making sure to focus on him. He hit a few threes at the beginning of the second half, but we did a good job of wiping him out. Traditionally that’s been somebody who has exposed us in the past.”

The Wildcats are now off to a 6-1 start coming off wins over DePaul and Florida State in one week and are much improved after finishing 8-22 last season.

The Blue Demons now have to regroup and prepare for a week where they face Morgan State at home on Wednesday and travel to UCLA on Saturday.

Notes:

Freshmen Devin Hill and Jeremiah Kelly each made their first collegiate starts.

Hill now has 11 blocks in his last three games.

For the first time in his college career Mac Koshwal missed a game. He sat out with an injured left foot. His status as to when he will return will be evaluated daily.

This was the first time this season that DePaul used a different starting line-up.

DePaul’s starting five played the first 9:06 of the game.

The 15 points scored in the first half was a season-low in a half for DePaul.

Dar Tucker has scored 32 points in the second half of the last two games and has scored in double figures in his last 10 games dating back to last season.

DePaul’s last two trips to Welsh-Ryan Arena have netted 75 points, a 37.5 average.

Northwestern’s Kevin Coble won the Waldo Fisher-Frank McGrath Award as the game’s Most Valuable Player. It was the second time in three years he has won the award.

Box Score