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 After reviewing video of lackluster performances in last
Wednesday's 86-74 loss to Lehigh, the Blue Demons converted lessons
from that game into an 87-72 nonconference victory over Stanford at
Allstate Arena.
"When we watched film we saw everywhere we messed up," said forward
Myke Henry, who scored a career-high 29 points. "We fixed it and
that's why we came out and won."
It was the second straight career-best game for Henry, a transfer
from Illinois. He had 24 points last Wednesday.
"Myke Henry once again proves to be a tough cover because he's
inside, he's outside." DePaul coach Oliver Purnell said.
Center Stefan Nastic and guard Chasson Randle led a balanced attack
with 16 points apiece for the Cardinal (4-2). Guard Anthony Brown
had 15, forward Reid Travis had 12 and forward Rosco Allen added 10.
 Forward Jamee Crockett had 19 points while Tommy Hamilton IV added
14 for DePaul (3-1).
The Blue Demons hit 16 of 21 free throws in the second half to help
keep the Cardinal at bay.
It was the fourth meeting between the teams in a series that dates
back to 1966. The teams are now tied 2-2.
DePaul shot 17 of 32 (53.1 percent) and used a 12-2 run over the
final 4:01 of the opening half to claim a 41-30 halftime lead as
Henry scored 13 points. He gave the Blue Demons a 19-18 lead with
jams at the 11:38 mark and another at the buzzer to cap the late
surge.
Travis topped Stanford with 10 first-half points.
"The game was actually going pretty good for the first four or five
minutes," said Cardinal coach Johnny Dawkins. "We were scoring, they
were scoring. But I thought we ended the half very bad. ... We gave
up two easy baskets and all of a sudden it's an 11-point game."
The Blue Demons run resumed in the second half with a 11-4 spurt
over the first 3:30 for a 52-34 lead, their largest of the game. But
Stanford proceeded to chip away, and a pair of Brown baseline
3-pointers helped trim the DePaul lead to 60-55 with 8:55 showing.
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"It was encouraging to see that we had a lot of fight," Dawkins
said. "Our kids didn't quit and kept competing."
But the Blue Demons quickly restored a double-digit lead and never
saw it slip under nine points in the final minutes.
"We contested Stanford from the start on the perimeter and I think
that was a big key for us getting off to a good start and obviously
we closed well at the half," Purnell said. "I was a little concerned
the way we came out in the second half but after a quick time out
our energy got up to the way it was in the first half."
NOTES: Cardinal G Chasson Randle is no stranger to Chicago
basketball, traveling from Rock Island, Ill., to play for a suburban
AAU team during his high school days. ... Randle was averaging a
team-high 18 points through five games. ... Sunday's game was
Stanford's first true road game and it won't travel again until Dec.
20 at BYU. ... Next up for the Cardinal is a Dec. 13 home game
against Denver. ... F Myke Henry led DePaul before Sunday with a
16-point average while G Billy Garrett Jr. was next at 14 points.
... DePaul came into Sunday with a streak of at least one 3-pointer
made in 647 consecutive games. The Blue Demons made seven more on
Sunday to increase the streak to 648 games... The Blue Demons host
Northern Illinois on Tuesday and travel to Chicago State on
Thursday.
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