Providence's pressure sends DePaul packing

Dar Tucker kept slashing to the basket, amassing points and flashing his pearly white smile.

Will Walker kept nailing jumpers and sneaking in for layups that entranced the Madison Square Garden crowd.

And Mario Stula, the sharpshooting Croatian whom DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright has touted for two long years, emerged from his cocoon to swish three 3-pointers.

But just when it seemed the Blue Demons would continue their postseason metamorphosis, Providence ensnared them in its infrequently used full-court-press netting.

DePaul led by 6 points with 8:28 to go, but the Friars used intense pressure to spark a defining run that led to an 83-74 Big East tournament second-round victory Wednesday.

Eighth-seeded Providence (19-12) outscored the Demons 15-1 in less than five minutes to move into Thursday's quarterfinal against top-seeded Louisville (25-5).

DePaul (9-24) bowed out with the school record for single-season losses despite Walker's 31 points and Tucker's 30 points and 8 rebounds.

Though they lost 19 of their last 20 games, the Demons believed they tacked an exclamation mark to the end of their season.

"We didn't have the best year, for sure," Wainwright said, "but I think we showed we can be a representative team in this league and we're just a couple of guys away from being pretty good."

At the least, DePaul was a couple of guys away from busting the Big East's bracket further.

For the second time in 26 hours, Walker and freshman point guard Jeremiah Kelly played all 40 minutes. Tucker went the route Wednesday, too, as DePaul used just seven players.

Walker, Tucker and Stula (career-high 9 points) combined for all but 4 of the Demons' total. Kelly and sophomore Mac Koshwal added 1 basket apiece.

Providence coach Keno Davis figured his team's pressure could take advantage of DePaul's limited rotation.

Sure enough, the Demons went from the 11:18 mark of the second half to 2:10 without a basket. They settled for going 8 of 14 from the free-throw line as Providence transformed a 55-51 deficit into a 72-63 lead.

"I was expecting them to get tired before that, you know, playing the day before and playing a lot of guys 40 minutes," Davis said. "But I think their adrenaline kept them going that long."

That certainly was the case with Tucker, who couldn't be stopped with the ball in the open court. The 6-foot-5 sophomore, who has been expected to test the NBA waters during the off-season, indicated after the game he expects to return.

That would give DePaul an explosive quartet with Tucker, Walker, Koshwal and Ohio State transfer Eric Wallace.

"We take the experience and just take that we know we were working hard," Walker said, "we can keep winning and be a force in the Big East with the young guys getting a lot of experience like Jeremiah."