The Blue Demons (8-12, 0-8) came into this difficult matchup with more energy on both sides of the ball. They received good looks from the field due to the spread of the Huskies’ full court press. The increased amount of room the Blue Demons had drove them to an 8-5 lead after the first timeout with 15 minutes remaining in the first half.

After the timeout, the Huskies (19-1) never looked back, registering a 10-0 run. This led to a four-minute scoring drought for DePaul.

Sophomore Blue Demon forward Dar Tucker (20 points, 3-7 from the line) was sidelined for 10 minutes of the first half due to fouls. This spelled trouble for DePaul, as he is their scoring leader. However, the Blue Demons kept the game close, going 15-of-30 from the field. Even with Tucker playing only 10 minutes of the first half, he still managed to tally 15 of the Blue Demons’ 35 halftime points.

“If you told me we could hold them to 40 points at halftime against the No. 2 team in the country, I would have said we had a good chance to win,” said Blue Demons’ head coach Jerry Wainwright. “I thought we did exactly what we practiced, and I’m proud of them. We just need to execute better.”

Coming out of the locker room, the Huskies started to pull away with a 12-5 run. They had four players in double-digit points. The scoring runs were led by forward Jeff Adrien (12 points, 12 rebounds) and Jerome Dyson (18 points, 5 rebounds), who recorded his 1,000th point last night. The Huskies’ second half was just too much for DePaul to handle.

The Blue Demons were out-played in every aspect. In the second half, it became impossible for them to crash the boards and gain some kind of momentum. On one Huskies possession, the Huskies grabbed two offensive rebounds and ran 48 seconds off the game clock.

Despite the Huskies' strong play, the Blue Demons had their chances. They took two more shots than the Huskies, but they just went cold, shooting 24 percent from the field in the second half. It was almost as if everyone was afraid to make a mistake besides Will Walker and Dar Tucker, who accounted for 20 of 25 total shots in the second half.

Regardless, this is a young team. Even with a season not panning out quite how Wainwright wanted, they still have fans from unexpected areas.

Huskies head coach Jim Calhoun talks much about his 20-year working relationship with Wainwright. He explained how Wainright is headed in the right direction, scouting players like sophomore center Mac Koshwal and Tucker.

“If there was a way I could take Koshwal and Tucker back with me, we’d be in great shape,” said Calhoun. “The Big East is interesting, because our league is a league of progression. They [the Blue Demons] are a point guard away from doing something.”

It is back to the drawing board for DePaul as they take on Rutgers Saturday.

With a Duke loss last night, UConn will make a great case for taking the No. 1 spot in the AP polls if they can hold off Providence. Providence put up 100 points against Syracuse Tuesday night.

“We had a good defensive push in the second. If we keep that up, I think we have a good chance of being a really special team,” said Calhoun.

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