DePaul Basketball Gets First Conference Win: 3 Takeaways

DePaul basketball has finally done it! They’ve won their first conference game since the 2022-2023 season against the Georgetown Hoyas. The final score was 73-68.

The Blue Demons were led by C.J. Gunn who scored 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals.

He did this while shooting 5-9 (55.6%) from the field and 2-3 (66.7%) from beyond the arc. This was Gunn’s third consecutive game leading the team in scoring, the best of which was against Marquette (21 points).

For the Hoyas, they were led by both Drew Fielder and Malik Mack who each scored 19 points. Both men shot a combined 15-29 (51.7%) overall and 4-11 (36.3%) from long range.

Head coach Chris Holtmann previously promised and guaranteed that a victory would come. It was much sooner than most people thought.

Here are three takeaways from DePaul basketball’s first conference victory of the Holtmann era.

Takeaway #1: Troy D’Amico / Free throws

Troy D’Amico doesn’t always show up on the score sheets in terms of points, but he came to play in the nation’s capital.

Against Georgetown, D’Amico scored 9 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists in the victory. He shot 4-4 (100%) from the charity strike. D’Amico was also responsible for a clutch three-point shot to extend the lead with under 30 seconds to go and was one of the main contributors into a big factor for the win, free throws.

As a team, DePaul basketball shot 22-28 (78.6%) from the line, featuring five players making at least four free throws. These players were D’Amico, Jacob Meyer (4-5), Gunn (5-6), Conor Enright (4-6), and Layden Blocker (4-4).

In critical moments late in the game, one of the best ways to maintain and grow the lead is to make those free throws. It’s happened time and time again, not just for the Blue Demons, where teams have a lead but can’t score from the charity strike and teams creep back and steal the leads.

Takeaway #2: Georgetown kept it too close

The Hoyas only led by three the entire game and never got it back. However, they were able to narrow the gap with DePaul basketball and make people realize, it’s not over yet.

With under three minutes to go, Georgetown started to mount a comeback off of layups by Curtis Williams Jr, Mack, and Micah Peavy who scored clutch layups and three-pointers to narrow the lead to between three to four points.

This just goes to show that no conference game is a guaranteed victory or defeat, no matter how good or bad a team performs earlier in the season.

Takeaway #3: DePaul basketball needs to close out these games

It has happened time and again for the Blue Demons. Against the likes of Marquette and Seton Hall, coming into the second with a lead only to squander it. That nearly happened last night.

At halftime, DePaul basketball led 39-28. Early on in the second half, the lead grew to 16 points (53-37). With two minutes to go, Mack nailed a shot from downtown to cut the lead to 65-63.

The further this season goes on, the more these close games become something to watch. In order for this team to continue to improve, they need to not allow teams to claw back and narrow the gap in points. The team has plenty of strong opponents coming up, including rematches with teams they’ve previously lost to earlier in conference play.

Holtmann promised a win and he delivered. The next step is to continue to improve and get more conference wins.

Next up for DePaul basketball (10-9, 1-7): vs. Creighton (12-6, 5-2) – Jan. 21 at 8 p.m. CST (9 p.m. EST)

Next up for Georgetown basketball (12-6, 3-4): at Villanova (12-7, 5-3) – Jan. 20 at 5 p.m. CST (6 p.m. EST)