The losing streak is over.
Brandon Young scored 19 points while Billy Garrett Jr. and Durrell McDonald both added 15 to snap a 10-game skid Tuesday as DePaul men’s basketball beat Seton Hall 65-60 in a thriller.
“We remembered how they punched us in the mouth when we played them at Seton Hall,” Young said. “We wanted to come out and show them it was going to be a tough battle.”
Plagued by slow starts all season, DePaul was this time able to deliver punches right out of the gate.
Throughout the first half, DePaul (11-18, 3-13) couldn’t miss. The Blue Demons started eight of nine and raced out to an 18-15 lead within the first ten minutes. Young scored nine quick points and McDonald sunk two threes.
The Blue Demons continued the pressure for the rest of the first half, going into the locker rooms with a 38-29 lead. The Blue Demons ended the first half shooting 71 percent.
“The big key is that we started better offensively,” head coach Oliver Purnell said. “That’s been a real big problem for us and I thought our mentality was sounder. I thought our preparation over the last four practices really prepared us.”
For all the energy that was there in the first, Seton Hall (14-14, 5-10) was able to neutralize that in the second. The Pirates jumped out to a 9-2 run to close the gap, 40-38. They would soon take the lead and took their largest lead of six, 50-44, with 12:39 to play.
Seton Hall’s Fuquan Edwin led the Pirates with 21 points and four steals.
The Blue Demons, however, rallied back behind a strong performance from Garrett. The freshman scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half and put DePaul back in the lead in the final six minutes.
With 6:55 remaining, Garrett earned a flagrant foul when he and Seton Hall’s Brian Oliver were involved in a skirmish after the whistle. Refs cited Garrett throwing an elbow and Oliver for committing a foul. Garrett went to the line and made two free throws to put DePaul ahead 54-52. Oliver then made one of two from the line.
“When you see Billy (earn a flagrant), you know he’s just intense and into the game,” Young said. “We just had match his intensity and fight for him like he fights for everybody else on the court.
The game’s biggest moment came when McDonald, who turned 20-years-old today, hit the biggest shot of his colligate career. As Young passed it to McDonald with the shot clock winding down, McDonald buried a 3-pointer from deep to put DePaul ahead, 61-58.
On the following possession, Seton Hall committed a careless turnover and Young ran it back for a statement dunk.
“When I looked at the shot clock, I knew I had to shoot,” McDonald said. “It was the best birthday present ever.”
“Finally the basketball gods took pity on us,” Purnell said. “Every shot like (McDonald’s) had been going the other way and it finally went our way.”