The DePaulia

Issue date: 3/8/10 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Brendan Leahy Mike Bizoukas can't get the shot off.

In what could potentially be the Blue Demons' first round matchup in next week's Big East Championship, it certainly didn't seem like it.

Both DePaul and South Florida got off to sluggish starts in front of a dull crowd at All State Arena, but the Bulls pulled away down the stretch, leaving with a 63-59 victory.

Holding the Bulls to just 7-23 shooting from the field, including USF's leading scorer Dominique Jones to just 2-10, in addition to forcing eight turnovers, DePaul entered the Blue Demons entered the half up 27-22.

"I knew it wasn't gonna be easy," said USF Head Coach Stan Heath. "You have to give DePaul a lot of credit, that's not your typical 1-16 team."

After doing a good job on the boards in the first half, the Blue Demons were out-rebounded 23-14 in the second half. More importantly, they surrendered nine offensive rebounds that resulted in 14 second chance points for the Bulls.

"The start in the second half was the difference," said Heath.

"We cranked it up a little bit, got some rebounding, got some defense, started finishing more plays."

Coming out of halftime, two offensive putbacks brought the Bulls to within one, and a Chris Howard layup gave USF their first lead since the score was 3-2.

But DePaul managed to hand around, never letting the Bulls stray further than eight points.

A Mac Koshwal layup cut the deficit to two, after which DePaul Head Coach Tracy Webster used a strategic timeout to set his team up in a 2-3 zone, something the Bulls weren't ready for.

Immediately following the change, the Blue Demons forced another USF turnover, and a two Devin Hill free throws knotted things up at 56. However, after a good defensive stand in the ensuing possession, the Blue Demons allowed Jones, who had been just 3-16, to pick up a loose ball, and knock down the three that would put the Bulls up for good.

"Plays like that happen," said Webster. "Sometime that's how the ball bounces. We talked about it. You have to come up with those 50-50 balls, and maybe you're not in that situation."

"He stepped up. That was a big shot that gave us a really good margin to close with," said Heath.

Still, Webster couldn't fault the Blue Demons' effort, led by Mac Koshwal's 24 points and 11 rebounds.

"My hat goes off to these guys. They've been really good. I believe they'll be good tomorrow, the following day, and when we get to the Big East tournament, they'll be good."

"That's one thing I can say. They don't stop playing."

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