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 And the Blue Demons (6-2) had not had such a poor scoring half
until arriving in the nation's capital, where they dug a hole by
shooting just 34.6 percent from the field in the first half en route
to an 81-68 loss to George Washington.
"A disappointing performance by our team, especially in the first
half," said DePaul head coach Oliver Purnell. "That (first half) was
the tale of the tape. We wanted to take away the right-hand drive.
We didn't do that all night."
The game was not even as close as the final score suggests as George
Washington (6-2) led 42-22 at halftime and by 24 with 4:41 left in
the contest.
High-flying Colonials forward Patricio Garino made eight of nine
shots from the field and had 19 points, with many coming on drives
to the basket. Point guard Joe McDonald and forward Kevin Larsen
each added 18 points for the hosts.
It was not a pleasant homecoming for Purnell, a Maryland native and
a former assistant at nearby University of Maryland. His mother,
brother and sister were in the stands Thursday.
 "It was a good time for us to have this game. (But) I would rather
be home" in Chicago, Purnell said, with a grin. "We were stagnant on
offense. I just felt we were not there in the first half. Our energy
picked up in the second half. Clearly they played pretty well with
the lead. They kept taking the ball to the basket."
George Washington outscored DePaul 54-24 in the paint.
"Kevin has been posting up the paint (well) the last three games,"
said Colonials head coach Mike Lonergan regarding Larsen. "He is so
much more effective inside."
DePaul forward Myke Henry had just four points in the first half and
ended the game with 22 points, three blocks and six rebounds.
Forward Jamee Crockett had seven points in the first half for DePaul
and had 16 on the night. He picked up his fourth foul with 7:48 left
and his team trailing 62-46.
"That is a good basketball team," Crockett said of George
Washington. "We played at Chicago State but this was our first
out-of-state game. It was a learning process. It was a lack of
toughness. They punched us in the face first" with a quick start.
DePaul center Tommy Hamilton, who was averaging 15 points and 7.1
rebounds, had just one point and one rebound in the first half and
ended the game with just four points and six boards. He picked up
his fourth foul with 6:47 left.
Guard Billy Garrett had 10 points and four assists for the Blue
Demons, who had 19 turnovers and lost the battle of the boards
36-26.
"We were just not prepared," said Durrell McDonald (four points), a
starting guard for DePaul. "I felt like we were not ready."
[to top of second column] |
Larsen completed an old-fashioned three-point play for George
Washington with 6:20 left to make it 68-47 and a basket by Larsen
built the lead to 70-47 as the Colonials won going away.
Garino had been called for a flagrant foul with 12:36 left, and
Hamilton made one free throw to cut the lead to 54-38. Hamilton
threw a ball into the first row of fans for a turnover midway
through the second half and soon after that Garino broke away again
for a layup to give George Washington a 62-42 lead with 8:37
remaining.
DePaul entered the game ranked 19th in the country in free throw
percentage but made eight of its 14 shots from the charity stripe.
The Blue Demons also connected on just eight of 23 shots from
3-point range.
"I think we are more focused now," Garino said. "We are passing the
ball much more. I think Kevin is a key to our success."
George Washington continually worked the ball inside in the first
half and got several layups and a few dunks.
"It was a big plus. Their big guys are really good players," Larsen
said of the points in the paint for George Washington. He had eight
boards as well.
In the final seconds before halftime, DePaul tried to inbound the
ball under its own basket, but George Washington got a steal, and
Garino drove for a layup to give the Colonials a 42-22 lead at
halftime.
"The shot selection was not very good," Purnell said. "We have been
shooting the ball pretty well. Part of that is offensive balance."
NOTES: Blue Demons head coach Oliver Purnell is a native of Berlin,
Md., and a former assistant at the University of Maryland. ...
DePaul sophomore G Darrick Wood is from nearby Alexandria, Va. ...
Ron Bradley, the associate head coach for the Blue Demons, is the
former head coach at Radford in Virginia and a former University of
Maryland assistant. ... Next up for DePaul is a home game Sunday
against Illinois State. ... George Washington plays at Penn State on
Sunday. ... The teams split the previous four meetings in a series
that began in 1931-32. The last matchup was in 1998.
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