Hobbled, battered and beaten, they clawed until the bitter end. It was a tale as old as March; a scrappy underdog refusing to go away.

This is the story of the 2024-25 DePaul Blue Demons. Despite a record they didn’t desire and an opponent most teams dread, they became the Cinderella of the Big East Tournament, and the college basketball world took notice.

In what turned out to be a double-overtime thriller against No. 2 seed Creighton at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, DePaul could not put the finishing touches on another upset victory. 

They held an 11-point lead with 2:12 remaining in regulation, but an 11-0 run by the Blue Jays capped off by a Steven Ashworth three-pointer forced overtime.

Down eight with 1:33 left in overtime, DePaul needed to dig deeper than at any point this season. Layden Blocker then scored DePaul’s last nine points of the frame, including a tying floater with one second remaining. Given the fresh five minutes, the Blue Demons finally ran out of gas. 

DePaul found every last bit of energy they could muster in the game, but in the end it wasn’t enough, ultimately losing 81-85. Blocker finished with 25 points.

To put DePaul’s run into perspective, of the seven tournament games played so far, there has only been one upset of a team more than one seed higher than the victor. That was No. 10 DePaul’s win against No. 7 Georgetown, and DePaul followed it up with the tournament’s first double-overtime game since 2012.

“We talked all year about at DePaul how we’re going to have a strong backbone, and how we’re going to respond the right way to face hard things,” DePaul head coach Chris Holtmann said. “And man did they do that in overtime.” 

DePaul forward JJ Traynor left in the first half with an ankle injury and did not return. Blocker tweaked an ankle in the second half. Forward Troy D’Amico dealt with knee issues late. Then guard CJ Gunn fouled out late in the game.

Both playing in potentially their last collegiate games, DePaul guard Isaiah Rivera played all 50 minutes, while forward Troy D’Amico played 45 minutes.

DePaul head coach Chris Holtmann was emotional talking about the impact Rivera and D’Amico have had on the program in their final year of eligibility.

“I just love those kids,” Holtmann said. “They just wouldn’t let this group give in. There’s no question that this group has laid a foundation moving forward in a real positive way, and it begins by giving credit to those two guys.”

It was the first year of a rebuild in which DePaul dealt with two season-ending injuries and five other players missing games due to varying injuries. Rivera played in all 33 games, D’Amico played in 31. 

“It hurts that we didn’t get the win tonight,” Rivera said. “But I want to let the fans know, and let everyone know, we laid the foundation for the blueprints of Coach Holtmann’s teams and how they’re going to fight from here on out.”

DePaul’s 4-16 regular season conference record did not deter Rivera going into his final postseason run.

“No matter how things are going in life, you keep going,” Rivera said. “We could have quit on this season two months ago, but we ended with three wins in a row and a near win right there.”

Holtmann said that even though there’s a possibility of more basketball in a postseason tournament, it didn’t stop the emotions from showing. 

“I just really thanked the guys,” Holtmann said. “There were a lot of tears, a lot of emotional guys, coaches included. I think when you go through something like this with the group, you can feel really good about the fruits of our labor collectively.”

Rivera said the reality of his final game has not sunk in yet, but that his college basketball career has been “a heck of a ride.”

D’Amico relishes his final season in particular because he was able to return to his hometown of Chicago after three years at Southern Illinois University.

“To be back home playing in front of my family every game, my friends every game,” D’Amico said. “My brother goes to this school right now. My Dad went to this school. It was just nice to be back home and finish up my career here.”

Even though it may not be the season DePaul fans had hoped for, Creighton head coach Doug McDermott said Holtmann’s program is headed in the right direction. 

“Coach Holtmann has done an unbelievable job of instilling his culture in a short period of time with a bunch of guys that weren’t on the team last year,” McDermott said, “That’s very difficult to do, especially when the wins weren’t necessarily stacking up early in the conference season.”

DePaul finished the season with an overall record of 14-19 (5-17 versus Big East opponents). Holtmann, like his players, believes this was the year that set the tone for what they want DePaul basketball to look like. 

“I think there’s no question that our older guys, when they have a moment, can reflect back and say this was the start of something pretty special,” Holtmann said. “I think when we look back in a few years, God willing, see this program take real steps forward, guys like Troy (D’Amico) and Isaiah (Rivera) will be a big part of that happening.”

Related stories:

• DePaul superfan travels 850 miles to watch his team play — during finals
• Live updates: heavy underdog DePaul takes Creighton to double overtime
• DePaul upsets Georgetown, lives to see another day – The DePaulia

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