DePaul fans can't believe what they witnessed at Allstate Arena
As the final seconds ticked away at Allstate Arena on Wednesday night, many of the roughly 2,000 DePaul fans in attendance began to express their discontent.
But one voice could be heard clearly above the disgruntled din.
"We lost to Morgan State?" screamed a young man in the south stands. "Are you kidding me?"
Nope. Not kidding.
Morgan State, which played in last year's NIT and received the preseason nod in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to knock off the Demons 79-75 in Rosemont.
Piloted by coach Todd Bozeman, who led Cal to a pair of memorable NCAA wins on the same court in 1993, DePaul (4-3) became the Bears' first conquest of a power-conference school.
"It was time for us to break through," Bozeman said.
Junior guard Reggie Holmes' fifth 3-pointer of the second half - an uncontested jumper from the wing because a DePaul big man didn't step up and trap Holmes after a high ball screen - gave Morgan State (4-6) its first second-half lead with 1:10 to go.
The Bears added 6 free throws in the final minute to keep the Demons at bay - and to start the Demons fans braying.
"It's never fun to play poorly at home," said DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright. "Obviously it doesn't make the people that come to the game happy. I told our players it's directed at me, not them.
"There's no one here trying to be average, but we just have to get a lot mentally tougher. You have to seize the moment and plays down the stretch are really critical."
Wainwright vacillated between trying to keep his players' spirits up and trying to point out where they fell short.
On one hand, the Demons produced several brief offensive bursts that seemed to give them comfortable leads.
Dar Tucker had 21 points and 7 rebounds while Mac Koshwal, looking fine after missing the Northwestern game with plantar fasciitis, added 15 points and 9 rebounds.
On the other hand, how in the heck did Holmes score 20 of his game-high 29 points in the final 14 minutes?
A DePaul spree built a 57-47 lead with 14:03 to go, but Holmes swished 3 3-pointers in less than three minutes to make things serious again.
He then hit his last two 3-pointers - both of them on open looks - in the final three minutes.
"I'm on the sideline: I know who has made 3 3s," Wainwright said. "I know. I know his number. I know his name. I would assume that players would really gear up to stop him."