Although DePaul had a couple of solid opportunities for victories over quality opponents this past week, they were unable to connect on either one. In their first-round game of the PK80 Tournament, the Blue Demons were matched up against Michigan State. While DePaul was able to hang around and be tied at halftime, Michigan State dominated the second half to wind up with a 22-point win over DePaul.
Then, in the second round, DePaul was matched up with Oregon. Dana Altman’s squad may not be as talented as they were a season ago but they are still very dangerous. Once again, DePaul stayed close during the first 20 minutes. At halftime, the Blue Demons only trailed by one point. After that, though, Oregon went on to control the second half and defeat the Blue Demons by 10 points.
To close out the week, DePaul defeated Portland in the seventh-place game of the PK80 Tournament. This is far from a resume-building win, but it was good to see the Blue Demons come away with a win this week.
Through the first six games of the season, Eli Cain is still struggling to find his shot. He is averaging 12.2 points and 5.2 rebounds so far on a poor 35.1% shooting from the field. While he has struggled to get things going on the offensive end, his fellow junior Max Strus (who transferred from Lewis University and sat out last season) has picked his scoring. Although also not very efficient (35.7% shooting), Strus is leading the team in scoring at 14.8 points per game.
Schedule for this week:
- Youngstown State (2-5) at DePaul on Dec. 2