It took 13 games, but the DePaul men’s basketball team finally got one.With .05 seconds remaining on the clock, Jimmy Drew inbounded the ball to Cleveland Melvin. When that half second ran off, the Blue Demons had their first Big East victory of the season, a 79-76 win over Providence at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
“We got one. We finally got one,” said freshman Brandon Young. “We just played smart and was committed more on defense this game. We was talking more, more aggressive boxing out, rebounding, and we won the last six minutes of the game.”
Young put up 17 points in the win, but the team was led by Jeremiah Kelly, who scored a career-high 23 points on 6-13 shooting, including four 3-pointers. He also added five rebounds, three assists and six steals.
“I just felt it,” Kelly said of his hot shooting. “I wanted to be more aggressive. Coach talked to me, told me to be more aggressive, so I just wanted to come out aggressive. And the shots were falling and it turned out pretty well.”
Senior G/F Marshon Brooks came off the bench for the Friars and led all scorers with 28 points-a step above his conference-leading average of 24.3
The win moved DePaul to 1-12 in the Big East this season, and ended a 29-game conference road losing streak-their last victory coming against Cincinnati on March 8, 2008 by a score of 60-54.
“We did a great job in the face of adversity,” Head Coach Oliver Purnell told the media after the game. “[Providence guard Marshon] Brooks got it going, he’s tough to stop. The crowd got into it a little bit, you’re on the road, but our guys kept believing and stayed aggressive.We were attacking, shooting jump shots, and we stayed aggressive.”
The aggression paid off late in the game. With five seconds left and DePaul leading 77-76, Blue Demon G Brandon Young stole the ball on a pass intended for the Friars’ Gerard Coleman. The play took away Providence’s chance to take the lead, and gave DePaul an opportunity to pad their slim margin.
“[Brooks] was driving to the paint, and Tony [Freeland], he helped up,” Young said. On the defensive rotation, Young picked up Freeland’s open man on the outside. When Brooks tried to kick it out, Young was there.
“By the time he passed it, I was there enough to steal that ball and get that win,” Young said. “I reached in and knocked it away at the last minute.”
Even though he had eight turnovers in the game, Purnell praised Young for his play.
“I give a lot of credit to Brandon, because he wasn’t playing well,” Purnell said. “He hung tough, stayed aggressive and made the play in order to preserve the win.”
After the steal, the ball ended up in Kelly’s hands, and Providence was forced to foul. Kelly went to the line and once again hit both to make it 79-76, sealing the Blue Demons victory.
“It felt good,” Young said. “Everybody likes winning and everything, nobody likes losing. But other than that, it was a good win. We pulled it out and we stayed positive the whole game.”
DePaul came out hot and built up a 39-29 halftime lead before Providence started clawing back in the second half. There were eight lead changes in the game, and six ties.
“We knew Providence was gonna make runs,” Purnell said. “Not just one run, but a couple of runs. We just reminded the guys this is what we always talked about [before the game].”
With only four games left after Saturday’s Villanova matchup, the Blue Demons have few opportunities to build some momentum. But they plan on trying.
“Our goal was to beat Providence in the short-term,” Purnell said. “In the long-term, finish strong. We’ve got a stretch of games with teams in the bottom of the best league in America. Doesn’t mean they’re not good teams, but they’re not at the top. So we looked at this game and the next few games coming up.”
Added Young, “Let’s keep on moving from here and progressing. Keep getting some more wins.