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

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

Share
Share

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.”

___

AP freelance writer Everett Merrill contributed to this report.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 all season. Sign up here. AP college basketball:  https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll  and  https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

Share

Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

Latest News

Related Articles
Sports

Injuries to freshman star Cooper Flagg, Maliq Brown hit at inopportune time for No. 1 Duke

Cooper Flagg went airborne to snag a rebound in his first ACC...

Sports

Jones scores 28 as No. 25 Marquette rallies past Xavier 89-87 in Big East quarterfinal

Kam Jones scored 28 points to surpass 2,000 for his career and...

Sports

John Feinstein, bestselling author and one of the country’s foremost sports writers, dies at 69

John Feinstein, one of the country’s foremost sports writers and the author...

Sports

Hepburn’s buzzer-beater lifts No. 13 Louisville to another big moment in Kelsey-led resurgence

Chucky Hepburn had given up the ball late in a tie game...

About Us

Founded by Francesca Perez in Miami in 2022, A BIT LAVISH is your go-to source for luxury living insights. Covering yachts, boats, real estate, health, and news, we bring you the best of Miami's vibrant lifestyle. Discover more with Miami's Magazine.

Newsletter

Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest updates and articles directly to your inbox.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Copyright © 2024 ABIT LAVISH. Miami's Magazine Est. 2022, All rights reserved.

Legal Notice: At A Bit Lavish, we pride ourselves on maintaining high standards of originality and respect for intellectual property. We encourage our audience to uphold these values by refraining from unauthorized copying or reproduction of any content, logo, or branding material from our website. Each piece of content, image, and design is created with care and protected under copyright law. Please enjoy and share responsibly to help us maintain the integrity of our brand. For inquiries on usage or collaborations, feel free to reach out to us +1 305.332.1942.

Translate »