To open the Big East Tournament on Wednesday night, DePaul men’s basketball defeated a Georgetown opponent by the skin of their teeth, capping off a third win against them this season.
In both regular season matchups, DePaul narrowly defeated Georgetown — first by five points in Washington, then by three back on their home turf just four days before Wednesday’s rematch at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The Hoyas were the only Big East opponent the Blue Demons swept in the regular season, getting the best of them once again, but by no easy measure.
After DePaul led by as many as 15 points midway through the first half, Georgetown mounted a furious comeback, finishing the half up 40-38.
DePaul stayed disciplined, even against a full court press that has bothered them all season and a zone defense that kept them guessing.
“We knew taking care of the ball was going to be a huge focal point in today’s game,” DePaul guard CJ Gunn said. “They sped us up a few times, but we did a good job settling back down and knowing that it’s a game of runs, and we ultimately executed.”
Down 64-70, Georgetown’s Micah Peavy — who finished with a game-high 26 points — scored a layup and a free throw to cut the DePaul lead to one possession. With 11 seconds left, DePaul intentionally fouled Georgeotwn guard Jayden Epps, who had a chance at the free throw line to cut the deficit even further.
Epps was given a one-and-one free throw trip, meaning if he made the first, he would get a chance at the second.
But, the first free throw missed several feet short, a rare air ball in college basketball.
Pandemonium.
“Three games in a row it all played out the same exact way,” Georgetown head coach Ed Cooley said. “There’s no excuse for the players we didn’t have. The players we had out there; our emotional discipline, our physical discipline was null and void in all three of the games that we played against them.”
The “X-factor” in the game according to Cooley was DePaul forward NJ Benson.
“Players win games,” DePaul head coach Chris Holtmann said.
DePaul welcomed back Benson to the court after he suffered a hand injury vs. Marquette on Feb. 11. Benson has 18 points in 18 minutes of action.
Holtmann said that Benson “begged” to come back and play for the last few weeks.
“We had to hold him back because it wasn’t in his best interest,” Holtmann said. “Kids sometimes don’t always play when they don’t feel full strength. It is really refreshing to have a kid that was dying to play, even when he wasn’t at full strength … (Benson is) a guy who wants to keep getting better.”
Holtmann knew that Benson would be properly conditioned after a few weeks of non-contact conditioning, but said he was worried about the physicality of the game.
“I didn’t expect him to honestly play this much,” Holtmann said. “Obviously, we needed him.”
Benson made seven of his eight shot attempts, many of them through contact.
Benson’s teammates were quick to give him credit for his return to conference play in the biggest moments.
“Shout out to NJ,” Gunn said. “With him returning back tonight and having (18) points. Yeah, he was real physical in that paint.”
DePaul advances to a date with No. 2 seeded Creighton tomorrow, who is led by 7-foot-1 star center Ryan Kalkbrenner. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. CST.
“Bottom line, it’s going to be a tough matchup with Kalkbrenner,” Holtmann said. “They’ve got a terrific team, but for us, we’re grateful for an opportunity to come out and compete, and we can’t wait to get out there and play again and wear the DePaul uniform.”
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