Providence tops DePaul 79-62 in Webster debut

For 40 minutes Thursday night, the Tracy Webster era felt like a glorious DePaul dream.

Not 40 minutes in basketball time. Just 40 real minutes, which weren't enough for the Demons to finish the first half.

Providence, which seemed to throw down a dunk or drop in a fastbreak layup every other time down the court after halftime, took home a 79-62 Big East victory in 40 minutes of helter-skelter hoops at Allstate Arena.

DePaul (7-9, 0-4), which extended its regular-season losing streak in league play to 23 games, settled for junior guard Mike Stovall's career-high 30 points and a few moments of bliss in Rosemont.

"I felt good because I thought our players were really ready to play," Webster said. "This is the most energy they had, probably - I shouldn't say the most, but they had a ton of energy before the game which got everyone else excited."

Energized, apparently, by Jerry Wainwright's dismissal on Monday, the bigger, more upbeat crowd welcomed Webster with a huge roar when veteran PA man Jim Riebandt introduced DePaul's interim boss just before tipoff of his coaching debut.

"I heard it," Webster said softly. "That was a good thing. I wish we could've won the game."

Though the Blue Demons didn't have the services of junior Mac Koshwal, who's out for 2-4 weeks after injuring his right foot in practice, they scrapped and trapped and battled from the tip.

"We faced a DePaul team that came out with an incredible amount of energy," said Providence coach Keno Davis, "and took it to us the first 15 minutes of the game."

The evening's pinnacle came with 3:58 left in the first half, after one of DePaul's frequent double teams beyond the 3-point arc forced Friars point guard Sharaud Curry to hurry his drive and throw his pass out of bounds.

When the horn sounded to signal the media timeout, the announced crowd of 7,533 rose as one to reward DePaul's effort and 26-19 lead.

Athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto and school president Rev. Dennis Holtschneider stood together in the tunnel and smiled while commiserating with happy fans.

Ten minutes later (in basketball time), Providence (11-6, 3-2) owned a 54-34 lead as Davis' squad pressed and sprinted its way on a 35-8 run.

On the Friars' last two possessions in that spree, freshman guard Vincent Council drove and fed teammates for easy two-hand dunks.

"We definitely have to do a better job of getting back in transition and defending our man one-on-one," said Webster, who guessed he might have had 100 family members and friends in the stands to support him.

Webster made a few changes to DePaul's usual lineup.

With Koshwal's 15 points and 11 rebounds per game stuck on the bench in black sweats, 6-foot-11 sophomore Krys Faber received his second start and contributed 9 points and 7 rebounds in a career-high 27 minutes.

Sophomore point guard Jeremiah Kelly returned to the lineup at Eric Wallace's expense and handed out 8 assists without a turnover.

"Our guys are not going to stop fighting," Webster said. "We're going to get better."