It had been over a year since DePaul men’s basketball previously won a road game in the Big East. The Blue Demons had lost 11-consecutive conference road games in that span.
Thursday night, that losing streak ended.
Cleveland Melvin scored a season high 30 points, and Billy Garrett Jr. added 22 as the Blue Demons upset Butler (10-6, 0-4) in double overtime, earning a 99- 94 win. The win also snapped a three-game losing streak and DePaul improved to 9-8 (1-3) on the season.
“This was a big win for us,” head coach Oliver Purnell said. “We’ve been playing well in stretches, but we weren’t playing well enough. That was our mantra the last couple of days; we’ve got to play better, longer. We got the opportunity in double overtime to do that.”
The Blue Demons trailed by 11 with 3:50 to go in the second half. A Tommy Hamilton threepointer, however, started an 11-0 run that would tie the game at the end of regulation.
Garrett hit a three pointer to pull within 3 with 56 seconds left and Melvin would make a layup to tie the game at 73 with 16.1 seconds left. Butler’s Rene Castro missed a game-winning layup as the teams headed to overtime.
“I noticed we were getting stops and scoring,” Purnell said. “I thought we were executing really well offensively and getting stops. Anytime you do that, you’re going to be in good shape.”
In overtime, Hamilton continued his strong play. The freshman scored seven of his 17 points in the first overtime and a three-pointer by him would give the Blue Demons a five-point lead, 82-77, with 55 seconds remaining.
“I just had to stay focused and stick with it,” Hamilton said. “It’s definitely a huge confidence booster going into the next game.”
The Blue Demons couldn’t hold on to the lead built by Hamilton as Butler’s Kellen Dunham made a pair of free throws and scored a threepointer, cutting DePaul’s lead to 86-85.
Dunham finished with 30 points.
Melvin spilt a pair of free throws with nine seconds left and Butler had one last chance to tie or win the game. An offensive rebound and tip in by Butler’s Jackson Aldridge sent the game into a second overtime.
DePaul, who has often squandered leads late in games, remained focused. Melvin sunk a three-pointer and gave DePaul a 92-87 lead with three minutes remaining in the second overtime.
Butler tied the game at 94 with a Dunham three pointer. Brandon Young came up big, hitting two free throws to give DePaul a two point with 19 seconds left.
DePaul would hold onto its lead by making its free throws. They finished 27-38 from the line.
“In the second overtime, we came right back with a good mentality,” Purnell said. “We could have been discouraged at that point. That was probably the most impressive thing. At that point, we could have gotten discouraged on the road but our guys stuck in there and played really well in the second overtime.”