[Updated 7 p.m. CST, Sunday, Dec. 1]

On the bus ride home from Kansas City, DePaul men’s head coach Oliver Purnell let the team have it.

The Blue Demons disappointed in a two-game performance where they were thoroughly outplayed by Wichita State and Texas. Both games resulted in 18-point losses.

With three days to prepare for Oregon State, Purnell told his team that they were better than those performances.

“We had a couple of not so pleasant days of practice for them,” Purnell said. “We clearly needed it. We’re better than what we showed there and the only way that you’re gonna demonstrate that is to work at getting better.”  

The players heard the message.

Five Blue Demons ended up in double figures as DePaul beat Oregon State 93-81 Sunday.  DePaul snapped Oregon State’s three-game win streak and improved to 4-3 on the season.

“This was a nice bounce back win for us,” Purnell said. “I thought that our offense for the bulk of the game was big for us. We never really got in a hole.

“Anytime you have five guys in double figures, 95 percent of the time you’re going to win,” he said.

DePaul opened up a large lead in the second half. The team went into halftime 43-39, but Cleveland Melvin’s hot start sparked a 10-2 run to extend DePaul’s lead 70-55.
Melvin scored 23 points and shot 75 percent (3-4) from beyond the arc. Melvin is now shooting 57 percent (16-28) beyond the arc on the year since switching to the small forward position.

However, it was Billy Garrett Jr. who made a huge difference. Garrett Jr. earned his first career double-double as the freshman scored 11 points and dished out 10 assists.
“It feels good to make other people better,” Garrett Jr. said. “It boosts the moral of the team and it’s better than me just scoring the basket. I like assists better than I do points, personally.”

On Garrett Jr.’s big day, Purnell said that he was pleased with the freshman’s conditioning.  Garrett Jr. played 36 minutes.

“They threw the kitchen sink at us out there in terms of multiple defense and he kept us settled out there,” Purnell said. “He’s just a poised kid. I thought that was one of the biggest keys to the game.”
DePaul made a big adjustment in the second half by limiting Oregon State’s Devon Collier. Collier Scored 22 points in the first half and just 10 in the second.

“Midway through the first we started trapping him when they set ball screens for him to get the ball out of his hands,” Purnell said. “I thought he was a bit frustrated. He couldn’t catch the ball where he wanted to and couldn’t do what he wanted to.”

Sandi Marcius played a big effort defensively on Collier. The fifth-year senior had his best game as a Blue Demon as well. Marcius scored 15 points (5-5) and had five rebounds.

“Sandi did a great job in the second half,” guard Brandon Young said. “We need that from him every night.”

The other players with double figures were Tommy Hamilton and Young. Hamilton scored 14 points while Young finished with 21.

“Overall this was a good team win today,” Young said. “We didn’t like the outcome of Kansas City and we worked very very hard in practice. We came out here today and played team defense.”

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GAME NOTES

• Brandon Young went down twice during the course of play with injuries, once holding his ankle and the other time his knee. Young returned both times. “There’s nothing wrong me,” he said. “I’ll be back next games.”
• Charles McKinney was suspended one game for violating team rules and missed today’s game as a result. Purnell declined to get into specifics.