First from a nine-point deficit in the first half and then again by 13 in the second, DePaul men’s basketball rallied back against St. John’s. However, DePaul let them go one too many times as they fell on the road to the Red Storm 86-78.
The Red Storm (16-8, 5-6) were led by D’Angelo Harrison’s double-double, as he scored 33 points and grabbed ten rebounds. Sophomores Billy Garrett Jr. and Tommy Hamilton IV both led The Blue Demons (12-14, 6-7) with 18 points a piece, Hamilton’s coming off the bench. DePaul fell to a losing record in the Big East for the first time this season.
St. John’s went on a 9-0 run early after being down 5-1, but DePaul retook the lead after back-to-back baskets from Hamilton and another from senior Jamee Crockett to give the Blue Demons a 16-12 lead. From there, St. John’s was able to take back the advantage and build an nine-point lead going into the waning moments of the first half.
DePaul began its first run back to equalization and, while they weren’t able to tie the game before the half, they did cut the lead to three and went into the locker rooms down 36-33.
St. John’s went ahead early in the second half and continued to push the envelope until they were able to make a run and take a 13-point lead with just more than 14 minutes on the clock.
Aided by two free throws resulting from a technical foul on Harrison, DePaul was able to chip away and finally tie the game back up a 62-62. The Blue Demons had utilized a 12-2 run during the process and had turned it back into a contest.
The two teams traded baskets as the clock ticked down until St. John’s went on a definitive run. After DePaul had cut the lead back to 2 with a Crockett three-pointer, the Red Storm went on a 9-0 run that pushed the lead to 78-67 with 3:35 to go in the game. This proved to be the dagger that DePaul could not recover from, ending the game with a final score of 86-78.
DePaul remained at sixth place in the Big East with the loss while the Red Storm moved up a spot to take over seventh place from Seton Hall. The Blue Demons play Providence, a team they lost to earlier in the year on the road, at Allstate Arena Feb. 18.
