Dar Tucker was not a Blue Demon last season, but he remembers the boost DePaul received when it upset No. 5 Kansas.
Now the freshman forward wants to be part of a game that could change DePaul’s outlook on the season and could help catapult the Blue Demons into the postseason when their compilation of games is surveyed in the spring.
DePaul (6-7, 2-0 Big East) will have an opportunity to beat its second ranked opponent and its third conference opponent in a week Tuesday night when it faces No. 7 Georgetown (11-1 overall, 1-0 Big East) at Allstate Arena.
“It’s a big game,” Tucker said. “It could prove to everyone we’re a good team too.”
DePaul is riding a four-game winning streak after losing five straight and opened its conference schedule with wins over No. 17 Villanova and Providence.
Georgetown is no guarantee to duplicate its Final Four showing of last season, but the Hoyas appear to be one of the more potent Big East teams, especially after Pittsburgh and Louisville were slammed with injuries.
Although they flunked their first big test of the season in a loss to Memphis, the Hoyas don’t exhibit many weaknesses, shooting 52.3 percent from the floor with scorers at every position.
“They are physically the best team in our league,” DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright said. “It’s a great measuring stick for us.”
The Blue Demons seemed loose at practice Monday.
“Georgetown has more to lose than us,” center Wesley Green said. “We’re more free-spirited than they are.”
Come tipoff there are plenty of ways the Hoyas will try to stress out DePaul.
Here are a few keys to the game:
Interior play
Roy Hibbert’s scoring average is down from last season’s 12.9 points per game to 11.6.
His rebounding has decreased from 6.9 per game to an even 6.
One stat has remained the same for the senior center, however. He’s still 7 feet 2 inches.
Hibbert, who connects on 60.2 percent of his shots, is a serious threat as a true big man with plenty of skilled teammates around him.
DePaul has managed the inside much more effectively since using 6-9, 300-pound Green and 6-10 freshman Mac Koshwal, who averages 11.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, on the floor together.
Green has started the last four games, all wins.
He called facing Hibbert a “blessing” and is thankful to have a chance to play against Hibbert, who decided against entering his name in the NBA draft after last season.
“If I win and I play very well, he’s the one everybody’s going to be [questioning],” Green said. “Mac and I have nothing to lose.”
DePaul needs to rebound as effectively as Rutgers did against Georgetown. The Scarlet Knights held a 43-26 edge but still fell to the Hoyas.
To that end, Wainwright said he expects to use 6-10 Matija Poscic, who is recovering from a hip injury.
“This is not a game to play small,” Wainwright said.
Freshmen fire
One dynamic freshman is always a welcome bonus. Landing two young difference-makers is like being dealt a pair of aces at the blackjack table.
DePaul and Georgetown are benefiting from the play of two talented freshmen.
Austin Freeman and Chris Wright were Washington-area guards and McDonald’s All-Americans last season.
Freeman, who averages 9.6 points per game, led the Hoyas in scoring in four of their last six games. Wright, who is questionable for DePaul because of an ankle injury, averages 6.2 points off the bench.
Koshwal and the high-flying, always-smiling Tucker (12.8 points per game) did not have the same credentials out of high school but were top 60 recruits for DePaul and have progressed quickly.
“I’ve enjoyed both of those kids,” Wainwright said.
Defense
No team in the country is better at stifling offenses than Georgetown, which allows opponents to shoot just 34.8 percent. The Hoyas hold teams to 54.4 points per game, fifth best in the nation.
Wainwright said the Hoyas’ defense feeds off their Princeton offense.
“What makes them so tough defensively is their offense,” he said. “They have great players who aren’t afraid to use all their shot clock. … You spend so much time guarding you get overanxious and quick-shoot on offense.”
DePaul has hit on 44.2 percent of its shots but has connected on 50 percent or better in three of the last four games.
“To beat them you have to shoot a high percentage,” Wainwright said. “You’re not going to get a lot of shots.”
For DePaul, this game is their big shot.
———–
sryan@tribune.com
