Brandon Young led all scorers with 29 points, but DePaul’s men’s basketball team lost a heartbreaker to Marquette, 96- 94 in overtime Saturday. Billy Garrett also had a stellar game, scoring 26 points and Durrell McDonald chipped in with 13.
Although Young, Garrett and McDonald played well, it wasn’t enough to hold off the Golden Eagles. Davante Gardner led the Golden Eagles with 22 points. He got help from Todd Mayo, who had 19 points, and Jamil Wilson, who had 18 points.
DePaul (10-18, 2-13) didn’t start the game well, allowing five quick points. Juan Anderson, forward for the Golden Eagles (16-11, 8-6), had a steal for an easy dunk and Jake Thomas, guard for the Golden Eagles, had a 3-pointer. This quickly caused head coach Oliver Purnell to call a timeout with 2 minutes into the game. DeJaun Marrero, DePaul Freshman Forward, scored the Blue Demon’s first point at 13: 48 on a free throw make.
“Early on, we couldn’t match their energy, so it made it tough for us,” Garrett said.
DePaul was able to stay in the game with an efficent performance beyond the arc in the first half, shooting 40 percent (6-15). Also, they outrebounded Marquette 20-13 and beat them in second chance points, 5-3. The game was wire-to-wire at the half with Marquette ahead, 44-41.
The start of the second half was much like the start of the game with the Blue Demons struggling. Marrero turned the ball over for an easy fastbreak dunk and before DePaul fans knew it, the Golden Eagles made an 8-0 run. Purnell couldn’t take anymore and called a timeout at 16:59.
“We didn’t start well in the second half. We didn’t finish off with free throws and taking care of the basketball,” Purnell said.
Even though it looked like DePaul was going to let the game slip away, the Blue Demons rallied to make the game a nail biter and tied it at 68-68 at 6:14 behind Garrett’s fearlessness to the basket.
The Golden Eagles were up by as many as 15, but Young and Garrett had an answer. Gardner didn’t allow his team to be bullied by the dynamic duo, however. He attacked the paint with relentlessness and it seemed no big man Purnell threw at him could stop him. It caused DePaul’s big men Forrest Robinson and Sandi Marcius to get into foul trouble and foul out late in the game.
“We were doubling him, trying to get it out of his hands, but he’s so strong that he shoots and misses and pushes you under,” Purnell said.
In the late seconds of the game, with the Golden Eagles up 82-79, it appeared Marquette was going to walk out with the victory. Fortunately, Garrett hit a 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds left and the game went into overtime.
During these extra minutes, the momentum swung DePaul’s way at first. The Allstate Arena was loud and the energy was high. Fans were cheering, “We are DePaul” and the Golden Eagle fans were quiet. The duo of Young and Garrett seemed to be all we needed to carry the Blue Demons to the “W”, but Garrett missed 2 big free throws late, which started an uphill clime for DePaul. Gardner made 2 free throws late to push Marquette’s lead to 95-89.
McDonald made a huge 3-pointer to make the game close at 95-92. After Golden Eagle’s Derrick Wilson made 1-2 free throws and we scored a quick two, DePaul’s chance of an upset faded on a missed heave by McDonald at half court that caused the Blue Demons to lose 96-94.
“It’s tough, but we’ll keep fighting and we’re looking forward to the next game,” Young said.
DePaul’s next game is at Allstate Arena Tuesday February 25 at 8 pm when they take on Seton Hall.