DePaul basketball struggled along the way, but they extended their winning streak to five games after a 78-69 victory over the Eastern Illinois Panthers.
This game wasn’t a blowout victory compared to the last three, but a win is a win for the Blue Demons.
Sophomore guard Jacob Meyer led the team in scoring with 16 points, 5 rebounds, and a pair of steals against the Panthers. He shot 5-12 (41.7%) overall. All of his made shots came from beyond the arc, going 5-11 (45.4%) and shooting 1-2 (50%) from the charity strike.
Senior forward Troy D’Amico was another key contributor with 14 points in the matchup. He shot 2-4 (50%) overall, with all of his shots coming from the perimeter like Meyer’s. The majority of his points came from the free-throw line, making 8-9 (88.9%) of his attempts.
Graduate transfer guard Isaiah Rivera struggled tonight against Eastern Illinois. He scored 12 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal. However, one concerning point in tonight was his poor shooting performance. Overall, he shot 5-14 (35.7%) and 2-8 (25%) from long range.
Currently, DePaul basketball is tied with the Marquette Golden Eagles (5-0) and the Providence Friars (5-0) for the lead in the Big East conference.
After this loss, the Eastern Illinois Panthers (1-4) are tied with the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles (1-4) for the worst record in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Takeaway #1: This team needs to attack the basket more
There were several instances where the Blue Demons didn’t try to attack the paint. This came from either the Panthers being utter pests for interior defense, or the team finding an open man and kicking the pass out to the corner. Normally, that’s a good strategy, but in the first half, the team struggled from the perimeter, only going 6-20 (30%) from the three.
DePaul basketball was outscored in the paint 26-16 by the Panthers. When you look at the rebounding difference, with the Blue Demons leading in both offensive rebounds (12-10) and defensive rebounds (24-23), you would assume that the one who grabs more boards would be the ones getting points in the paint.
If this team wants to contend with the rest of the Big East, they need to make their offense two-dimensional to help drive attention away from their shooters such as Meyer, Rivera, or even graduate forward David Skogman, who shot 3-5 (60%) from the perimeter.
Takeaway #2: There needs to be more consistency in shooting performances by the team
As previously mentioned, DePaul basketball struggled in the perimeter, only getting 6-20 (30%) of their three-point shots to fall in the first half. They did improve in the second half, going 9-19 (47.4%) from beyond the arc.
Rivera is usually the most consistent shooter, yet he shot 25% from the three in this matchup. Redshirt junior guard Connor Enright was just as poor from the three, going 1-4 (25%) from long range. He did, however, contribute in other ways for the team, scoring 7 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and 11 assists.
Junior guard C.J. Gunn did not have a good night either, going 2-7 (28.5%) overall and 1-6 (16.6%) from long distance shots.
For the most part this season, the Blue Demons have been a great shooting team, ranked 57th in the nation in perimeter shooting (39.2%) and they were 50th in the nation in field-goal percentage (50.2%).
Despite their struggles, they managed to get the win. But this cannot continue as DePaul basketball inches closer to conference matchups.
Takeaway #3: DePaul basketball needs to limit turnovers
Against the Panthers, the Blue Demons had 17 turnovers, with 12 of them coming from a combination of four players in Skogman, Enright, Rivera, and D’Amico each having three turnovers.
As a result of those turnovers, Eastern Illinois capitalized with 21 points off of turnovers. This outscored DePaul, who only scored two-thirds of that total (14).
Lots of those turnovers occurred in critical moments, such as when Skogman or Rivera tried to kick it out to the corner, only for the defenders to take it away. Panthers senior guard Artese Stapleton grabbed four steals alone against the Blue Demons.
This team loves to play fast and aggressive against their opponents. However, they need to remained disciplined in critical moments to avoid games being as close as this was.
Next up for DePaul (5-0): vs Northern Illinois (2-2) – Nov. 23 at 4 p.m. CST (5 p.m. EST)
Next up for Eastern Illinois (1-4): at Valparaiso (1-2) – Nov. 24 at 1 p.m. CST (2 p.m. EST)
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