This was the Christians against the lions. This was the cornered mouse against the sadistic cat. This was the tiny town, so perfect on a postcard, against the surging tide of a flood.
This was DePaul against No. 4 Cincinnati, which simply had its way with the Blue Demons on Tuesday night before 5,718 witnesses at the United Center.
The Bearcats (25-2, 12-1 in Conference USA) ultimately strolled away with a 79-62 victory in this quintessential mismatch, but their final margin of victory was all that was ever in doubt.
They simply dominated DePaul (9-16, 2-11) from the start, resembling a swarm of buzzards pecking away at a fallen carcass.
“The idea of slowing them down early and getting them into a tempo they’re not used to was part of our game plan,” DePaul coach Pat Kennedy said. “We felt we had to get them off-balance to have a chance. We didn’t get them off-balance, obviously.”
The Blue Demons tried a triangle-and-two defense, but that hardly flustered a team as deeply experienced as Cincinnati.
The Bearcats start three seniors and two juniors and they simply picked that gimmick defense apart. They hit five of their first seven shots, limited DePaul to one of its first seven, and quickly the rout was on.
The Bearcats led by a dozen with just over five minutes gone and by 20 with 7:20 still remaining in the opening half. The Bearcats held DePaul to five field goals over the first 15 minutes and to 23.3 percent shooting (7-of-30) in the first half.
The Bearcats allowed DePaul to score on consecutive possessions only once in the first half, which the Blue Demons ended with more turnovers (11) than field goals and down 21.
Ennui then enveloped the Bearcats, who on Friday held Southern Miss to a mere 37 points. As they hibernated, DePaul managed to outscore them by four in the second half. But that fact was nothing more than a meaningless Band-Aid in the blood-letting, which sent Cincinnati winging home for a Friday showdown with Marquette that could determine the regular-season champion of Conference USA.
For the record, forward Lance Williams (12 points) and point guard Rashon Burno (11 points) were DePaul’s top scorers, while the Bearcats were led by point guard Steve Logan (22) and freshman forward Jason Maxiell (18 points, 9-of-9 from the field off the bench).
But it was defense, clearly, that catalyzed the Cincinnati rout, a defense that was persistent and merciless.
“Our defense carries us,” Bearcats coach Bob Huggins said. “We score off our defense and we make it hard for other teams to score. In the second half we lost our enthusiasm to play defense.”
“I’ve seen some outstanding teams and this team clearly ranks among the top four in the country,” Kennedy said of Cincinnati. “That’s a high-quality team.”
