DePaul basketball suffered another loss to the St. John’s Red Storm last night. The final score was 82-58.
Isaiah Rivera led the way for DePaul basketball with 16 points and 3 rebounds while shooting 5-12 (41.7%) from the field, 2-2 (100%) from the line, and 4-7 (57,1%) from beyond the arc.
Meanwhile, the Red Storm was led by Deivon Smith. He scored 18 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 7-17 (41.2%) overall and 3-5 (60%) from downtown. He also converted an and-one free throw attempt after getting fouled while nailing a fadeaway three.
Here are three key takeaways from the loss.
Takeaway #1: DePaul basketball could not buy a bucket from almost anywhere
Overall, the Blue Demons shot 18-55 (32.7%) and 10-30 (33.3%) from downtown. This was a moderate improvement from their performance against the Xavier Musketeers from long range (DePaul shot 24.1% off of 7-29 from beyond the arc against Xavier).
Rivera and Troy D’Amico were the only consistent shooters from downtown for DePaul basketball. D’Amico shot 3-7 (42.9%) from long range. As for the rest of the team, only David Thomas, Layden Blocker, and Chris Riddle converted on any other three-point attempts, the three shot a combined 3-8 (37.5%) from beyond the arc.
Overall, the team couldn’t buy a bucket either. C.J. Gunn struggled to get a shot to fall, only converting 4-11 (36.3%) from the field.
Takeaway #2: St. John’s dominated on the glass
The Red Storm had near complete control of the rebounding battle, outrebounding DePaul basketball 45-29 on the night. This also includes a 16-7 difference in offensive rebounds.
St. John’s had three players with over 7 rebounds against the Blue Demons. Zuby Ejiofor (13 points and 9 rebounds), Kadary Richmond (17 points and 9 rebounds), and Ruben Prey (4 points and 8 rebounds) were the three biggest impact players for the Red Storm. Ejiofor and Richmond each nearly recorded a double-double as well.
DePaul basketball played last night’s matchup without both N.J. Benson and David Skogman due to injuries. Head coach Chris Holtmann and the rest of the staff will be closely monitoring their status for the upcoming games, including Saturday’s matchup against Butler.
Takeaway #3: C.J. Gunn
While he had a rough shooting night, Gunn contributed in other ways despite what the scoreboard shows.
He recorded a double-double with 12 points and a career-high 10 rebounds for DePaul basketball. He hustled on almost every play both offensively and defensively, constantly trying to find himself open or to strip the ball away from the opposing ball handler.
He also shot 4-4 (100%) from the line, driving his way inside and drawing contact against a defense that was and still is the best scoring defense in the Big East, allowing 65.3 points this season.
Throughout the season, Gunn has shown his ability to score in critical moments, be a great on-ball defender, a slasher, and even a player who will hustle and compete for rebounds. Almost every time the ball was near him in the air, he snatched it away from the opposing players or tipped it away towards a teammate.
There are only four games left this season before the Big East tournament commences, and there are still several games for both Gunn and the team to improve, especially if the injury issues for Skogman and Benson continue to linger.
Next up for DePaul basketball (11-16, 2-14):Â vs Butler (12-14, 5-10) — Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. CST (8 p.m. EST)
Next up for St. John’s basketball (23-4, 14-2):Â vs UConn (18-8, 10-5) — Feb. 23 at 11 a.m. CST (12 p.m. EST)