At first glance, DePaul’s 19 wins while playing in the competitive Conference USA appear NCAA worthy. But I can’t get past three losses by the Demons before the calendar turned to 2005.
On Nov. 27, Northern Illinois plastered DePaul at Allstate Arena, 84-69. That’s right, the 11-17 Huskies, who lost in the first round of the MAC tournament as the No. 10 seed. DePaul allowed NIU to shoot nearly 56 percent in the game.
The next week, Drake Diener went 2-for-18 from the floor as DePaul shot a pathetic 29 percent in a 63-53 loss to Bradley. Take away Quemont Greer’s 7-for-11 and it falls to 21.6.
The Braves (13-15) were eighth in the Missouri Valley at 6-12 before losing to 11-19 Indiana State in the first round of their conference tourney.
Then on Dec. 15, Marlon Brumfield went scoreless in 21 minutes in a 56-52 loss to Big Ten lightweight Northwestern, which improved to 15-15 with its win over Michigan on Thursday.
DePaul’s 19-10 record after Thursday’s second loss to No. 4 seed UAB (21-9) in a week includes just one signature victory, an 85-66 drubbing of Cincinnati at Allstate on Feb. 12. Of course the Bearcats won 83-54 in Cincinnati.
The Demons followed their big win by losing five of their final eight games.
The Demons, who missed 4 of 6 free throws down the stretch in Thursday’s loss, have not proved they can win a close game all season and were 4-8 on the road.
Sorry, Coach Leitao. But good luck against Notre Dame in the NIT.
