Heartbreak for DePaul as 1st trip to Big East semifinals slips away with late collapse at MSG

At long last, downtrodden DePaul was finally about to produce its own indelible moment at the Big East Tournament.

A big upset was in the bag for the Blue Demons — and their first trip to the semifinals at Madison Square Garden.

And then it slipped through their fingers.

After building a 17-point cushion in the second half against No. 2 seed Creighton, the 10th-seeded Blue Demons blew an 11-point lead in the final two minutes of regulation and lost 85-81 in a double-overtime thriller Thursday night that nobody saw coming.

For a once-proud program that’s always been a Big East afterthought, it was an excruciating postseason defeat.

“It’s obviously disappointing,” first-year coach Chris Holtmann said. “They played their hearts out.”

Since joining the Big East for the 2005-06 season, DePaul has never been seeded higher than seventh in the conference tournament. After years of early exits, this was only its fourth appearance in the quarterfinals — and the school hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2004 while in in Conference USA.

But after getting outscored by 17 points per game while going 3-29 last season, including 0-20 in the Big East, the Blue Demons (14-19) showed significant improvement with an overhauled roster under Holtmann, who made seven straight NCAA Tournaments during his previous stints at Butler and Ohio State.

“There’s no question that this group has laid a foundation moving forward in a real positive way,” Holtmann said. “Obviously hurts on a night like tonight, but I’m really proud of this group.”

Creighton (23-9) scored the final 11 points of the second half and tied it 62-all when point guard Steven Ashworth took an inbounds pass, turned and nailed a long 3-pointer with 21 seconds remaining.

Ashworth, a second-team All-Big East selection, finished 3 for 16 from the field — including 2 of 10 from 3-point range.

Ryan Kalkbrenner blocked Troy D’Amico’s attempt at a winning 3 in the final seconds, Isaiah Rivera missed a hurried 3-pointer just before the buzzer, and the Bluejays had forced overtime with an improbable comeback.

DePaul didn’t wilt, though. An 11 1/2-point underdog on BetMGM Sportsbook, the Blue Demons erased an eight-point deficit in the last 90 seconds of the first OT.

Layden Blocker scored all 11 points for DePaul in that period, including a floater over the outstretched arm of the 7-foot-1 Kalkbrenner to tie it at 73 with 1.8 seconds left.

Kalkbrenner, who scored all but six of his 32 points after halftime, finally helped Creighton put it away in the second overtime with the aid of late free throws from freshman guard Ty Davis after Ashworth fouled out 30 seconds into the first OT.

“Ton of credit to DePaul. Coach Holtmann has done an unbelievable job of instilling his culture in a short period of time with a bunch of guys that weren’t on the team last year. That’s very difficult to do,” Bluejays coach Greg McDermott said.

Following a six-game skid, DePaul had won three in a row — including a 71-67 victory over No. 7 seed Georgetown in the first round Wednesday night.

“To finish the way that they finished and to play as well as they have here in New York, I mean, let’s be honest, we were really fortunate to win that game,” McDermott said. “They outplayed us for virtually all the game.”

Indeed, the Blue Demons led for more than 38 minutes and trailed for less than seven.

And when it was finally over, fans of several Big East teams applauded DePaul players and coaches as they walked off the floor.

“It means a lot to the program,” said Blocker, who finished with 25 points. “This is our first year together with coaches and staff and to get this far, trying to turn the program around means a lot. It was a great experience for us. I’m proud of our fight tonight. That’s all you can ask for.”

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AP freelance writer Everett Merrill contributed to this report.

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