“There is no such thing as a moral victory,” said De Paul basketball coach Joey Meyer.
OK. Then what must the Blue Demons do to make a game such as Saturday’s 79-74 loss to Kansas end up in the “W” column?
The answer is easy to state and probably very difficult to accomplish. De Paul needs to produce a third scorer to step up and join Tom Kleinschmidt and Brandon Cole.
After his No. 3-ranked Jayhawks had rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to improve their record to 5-1, coach Roy Williams praised Cole and Kleinschmidt for scoring 21 and 20 points, respectively.
“Down the stretch, Brandon and Tom were trying to carry the whole load,” Williams said. “They were the only two De Paul players who were going to shoot. If I had had a triangle-and-two defense, I would have used it against Brandon and Tom.”
In the last 7 minutes of the thriller at the Horizon, the only De Paul baskets not scored by the Demons’ 1-2 punch were a tip-in by Bryant Bowden and a short jumper by Mike Ravizee.
Williams identified a flaw in Meyer’s team: You can beat mediocre opponents with two dependable scorers, but to defeat nationally ranked teams, you usually need at least three.
“It’s true. Kleinschmidt and Cole were the only ones looking to shoot,” said Meyer. “That’s not the way we work in practice.”
Solving the problem won’t be easy. There does not appear to he a third crunch-time scorer on Meyer’s roster.
Point guard Belefia Parks has one basket in two games. Ravizee is willing and aggressive in the post, but he drops too many passes.
Kris Hill has shown he can score, but he seems to concentrate on rebounding and leadership. He took only five shots against Kansas. Bowden has a nice touch for a big man, though he sometimes forces shots. Brian Currie and Will Macon fall into the athlete-rebounder mode, rather than scorers.
That leaves 6-foot 6-inch freshman Marcus Singer. He can shoot and isn’t shy about firing his jumper. He drilled a three-pointer just 24 seconds after he hit the floor Saturday. But his defense is still a liability.
If there is a quick fix for De Paul’s two-man scoring game, it would seem to be one of the two 6-8 men, Hill or Bowden, or guard Peter Patton, if he’s in the lineup.
De Paul still might have escaped with an upset victory if it had not been for Jayhawks Steve Woodberry and Calvin Rayford. Woodberry hit 21 of his game-high 23 points in the second half. Rayford had seven assists and only one turnover in the second half.
