0-for-14 stretch, 0-for Big East, "oh" what a season for DePaul

WASHINGTON - Only 23 seconds into the game, Will Walker's jumper put DePaul ahead of Georgetown.

On the Blue Demons' second possession, Dar Tucker missed a 3-point attempt. And thus began a 10-plus minute scoreless drought for DePaul, filled with errant jumpers, flubbed 3s, even a blown dunk - 0-for-14 on field goals overall, plus 0-for-2 on foul shots.

It was a fittingly futile display for a team that would go on to lose 48-40 to Georgetown on Saturday, DePaul's school-record 18th consecutive defeat, making it only the third Big East team to go through an entire conference schedule without a victory.

"The kids really tried," DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright said. "We're just not good enough yet, in all honesty."

DaJuan Summers scored 15 points - 13 after halftime - and no one else had more than 7 for Georgetown (16-13, 7-11), which led by as many as 14 in the first half but did not play particularly well in its final home game of a disappointing season.

It's the worst showing by Georgetown in five seasons under Coach John Thompson III, as the team went from being ranked as high as No. 9 in the AP Top 25 to losing 10 of 13 games entering Saturday.

"You look at the numbers, you look at where we are - we wish we had a few more wins in there," Thompson said.

As Wainwright put it, the Hoyas "started with a bang and, I think, youth caught up with them."

DePaul (8-23, 0-18) never had lost more than 13 games in a row before this season and is the first Big East team to fail to win a conference game since Miami in 1993-94.

"We've struggled, obviously, offensively all year," Wainwright said.

Walker scored 20 points to pretty much single-handedly keep DePaul close. It was his floater in the lane that capped a 9-0 run for the visitors to open the second half and tie the score at 24-24.

"I was disappointed that they caught up," Thompson said, "but they've been fighting all year."

Georgetown managed to regain some momentum thanks to 3-pointers by Summers and Jason Clark. And after Walker's bank shot made it 34-31, Summers scored 6 points and assisted on the other basket during an 8-0 run that put the Hoyas in control for good.

"His maturity really was the difference in today's game," said Wainwright, who coached Summers on an 18-and-under U.S. team.

Georgetown was up 24-15 at halftime, thanks in part to 6 points and 5 rebounds from Greg Monroe, but the freshman didn't attempt a shot in the second half. Aside from Walker, who had 9 points on 4-for-10 shooting, the rest of DePaul's roster went a combined 2-for-19 in the half, 10.5 percent.

Neither team played all that well on offense: With the Hoyas missing plenty, too, there was a 51/2-minute stretch in the first half without a field goal by anyone.

"It was," Wainwright acknowledged, "an ugly game."