South Florida -6 O/U 123 over Depaul
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Skidding Demons get fresh start in N.Y.
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Despite a 12-game losing streak heading into the Big East tournament, DePaul coach Tracy Webster is proud of the way the Blue Demons have played.
''I'm proud because these guys fought their tails off,'' Webster said, ''and they could easily have just given up.''
DePaul (8-22) faces No. 9 seed South Florida for the second time in eight days at 11 a.m. today (ESPN2, 670-AM) at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The Bulls (19-11) rallied to defeat the Demons 63-59 on March 2 at Allstate Arena. Dominique Jones (21.3 points per game) made a big three-pointer with two minutes to play after the Demons rallied from an eight-point deficit to tie. Chris Howard scored 13 points and Augustus Gilchrist 11 for the Bulls, who had a 43-31 rebounding advantage.
South Florida has won three in a row in the series and won conference tournament games in 2001 and '03, when both were members of Conference USA.
Leading the way for DePaul is junior Mac Koshwal, who averages 16.6 points and 10.1 rebounds, and senior guard Will Walker, who is averaging 16 points.
The winner will face No. 22 Georgetown in the second round Wednesday. The stratified tournament gives the top four seeds -- No. 3 Syracuse, No. 16 Pittsburgh, No. 7 West Virginia and No. 10 Villanova -- two byes and spots in the quarterfinals. The next four seeds -- Marquette, Louisville, Notre Dame and Georgetown get first-round byes.
''The only way to approach this tournament is to erase the record and look at this as a new beginning for our guys,'' Webster said. ''We want to compete and do a better job in transition. When you get to tournaments, you never know. We just want to try to win one game at a time.
''We've put our game plan together. They did beat us, and they are probably confident. We just can't have lulls like we did last time.''
Despite having one victory since Dec. 19, the Demons remember knocking off Cincinnati in the first round a year ago.
''I'm happy with the effort, but a win would make me happier,'' Webster said. ''We need to keep those guys off the boards. And we have to keep good spacing on offense. We know that South Florida will be very good on the ball and very aware of where Mac is all the time. The key for us is to play good defense and to try to make them knock down tough jump shots.
''This is the time of year where you win by stopping transition, rebounding and defending.''
In the last meeting, Koshwal scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Walker had 16 points.
''It was there for me inside because [my teammates] did a good job,'' Koshwal said. ''I would love to win one for [graduating senior] Will and to win one for DePaul.''
As far as speculation that Koshwal could be thinking about leaving for the NBA, ''Mac hasn't even discussed it,'' Webster said. ''All of these kids are trying to take on the task at hand. They just want to go out, get a win and get to play another game.''
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Despite a 12-game losing streak heading into the Big East tournament, DePaul coach Tracy Webster is proud of the way the Blue Demons have played.
''I'm proud because these guys fought their tails off,'' Webster said, ''and they could easily have just given up.''
DePaul (8-22) faces No. 9 seed South Florida for the second time in eight days at 11 a.m. today (ESPN2, 670-AM) at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The Bulls (19-11) rallied to defeat the Demons 63-59 on March 2 at Allstate Arena. Dominique Jones (21.3 points per game) made a big three-pointer with two minutes to play after the Demons rallied from an eight-point deficit to tie. Chris Howard scored 13 points and Augustus Gilchrist 11 for the Bulls, who had a 43-31 rebounding advantage.
South Florida has won three in a row in the series and won conference tournament games in 2001 and '03, when both were members of Conference USA.
Leading the way for DePaul is junior Mac Koshwal, who averages 16.6 points and 10.1 rebounds, and senior guard Will Walker, who is averaging 16 points.
The winner will face No. 22 Georgetown in the second round Wednesday. The stratified tournament gives the top four seeds -- No. 3 Syracuse, No. 16 Pittsburgh, No. 7 West Virginia and No. 10 Villanova -- two byes and spots in the quarterfinals. The next four seeds -- Marquette, Louisville, Notre Dame and Georgetown get first-round byes.
''The only way to approach this tournament is to erase the record and look at this as a new beginning for our guys,'' Webster said. ''We want to compete and do a better job in transition. When you get to tournaments, you never know. We just want to try to win one game at a time.
''We've put our game plan together. They did beat us, and they are probably confident. We just can't have lulls like we did last time.''
Despite having one victory since Dec. 19, the Demons remember knocking off Cincinnati in the first round a year ago.
''I'm happy with the effort, but a win would make me happier,'' Webster said. ''We need to keep those guys off the boards. And we have to keep good spacing on offense. We know that South Florida will be very good on the ball and very aware of where Mac is all the time. The key for us is to play good defense and to try to make them knock down tough jump shots.
''This is the time of year where you win by stopping transition, rebounding and defending.''
In the last meeting, Koshwal scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Walker had 16 points.
''It was there for me inside because [my teammates] did a good job,'' Koshwal said. ''I would love to win one for [graduating senior] Will and to win one for DePaul.''
As far as speculation that Koshwal could be thinking about leaving for the NBA, ''Mac hasn't even discussed it,'' Webster said. ''All of these kids are trying to take on the task at hand. They just want to go out, get a win and get to play another game.''
I am taking Depaul 1st half and depending on the score probably USF in 2nd half. It seems lately Depaul either has the lead or it's a close game in 1H only for them to come out and lay an egg in 2nd half.
