ROSEMONT, Ill. ? The first half of Saturday's game basketball game between Indiana State and DePaul was dominated by the Blue Demons, who held a 39-19 lead at the intermission. The Sycamores (0-4) fought back in the second half though and outscored DePaul (0-4) by a margin of 51-36, but they could not pull out the dramatic come-from-behind victory and fell by a score of 75-70 at the Allstate Arena.
ISU started the game hot, as Jay Tunnell converted on a traditional three-point play and then hit two free throws to put the Sycamores up 5-0 early. From there, though, it was DePaul as the Blue Deamons ripped off 14 straight points before a Carl Richard jumper stopped the bleeding for the Sycamores with the score at 14-7 with 11:29 remaining in the half.
DePaul then went on a torrid 18-2 run to extend the lead to 32-9 after a three-pointer by Devin Hill before a jumper by Rashad Reed cut the lead to 32-11. Tunnell would then add a jumper of his own to make the score 32-13, before back-to-back dunks by Dar Tucker widened the DePaul lead to 34-13 with 3:37 remaining in the half.
Two free throws by Aaron Carter then cut the lead to 19 points at 36-17 before a free throw by Mac Koshwal and two free throws by Michael Bizoukas put the lead back to 22 points at 39-17. A layup with 18 seconds left by Brant Leitnaker made the score 39-19 in favor of the Blue Demons at the half. ISU shot just 29.6 percent from the field in the half while committing 11 turnovers that turned into 17 points by DePaul.
At the start of the second half, the Sycamores looked like a new team and the DePaul double-digit advantage quickly dwindled. Back-to-back three-pointers by Reed and Carter cut the lead to 14 points just over a minute into the half before DePaul answered with a three-point play in the paint by Matija Poscic. Josh Crawford then answered by connecting from long distance to cut the lead back to 14 and back-to-back jumpers by Tunnell and Reed cut the lead to 10 with 17:03 left on the clock.
ISU managed to cut the lead to six points at 43-37 on a layup by Isiah Martin with 14:26 remaining, but the Blue Demons brought the lead back up to 12 and led by as many as ten points at 61-51 with 5:57 remaining in the game after a layup by Koshwal.
The Sycamores then chipped away at the lead with some strong free throw shooting as Carter (3-for-3), Tyler Cutter (2-for-2) and Crawford (2-for-2) cut the lead to five points at 65-60 with just under three minutes remaining. After a free throw by Tucker made the score 66-60, a jumper from Richard and a jumper by Carter cut the lead to just two points at 66-64 with 1:49 left in the game.
Tucker then hit two more free throws before Reed answered with a jumper to put ISU within just two points of a tie at 68-66 with a minute remaining. Tucker then hit the second of two free throws after being fouled and Jeremiah Kelly added a layup 10 seconds later to put the Blue Demons back up by five points at 71-66 with 35 seconds left. Carter then nailed a jumper to cut the lead back to three points at 71-68, but a free throw by Kelly and a free throw by Tucker put DePaul back up by five points with just 13 seconds left. A layup from Crawford the cut the lead to three points at 73-70 with three seconds remaining, but Tucker was fouled and made both of his free throws to give DePaul the 75-70 victory.
Carter finished with a career-high 19 points and six rebounds to lead the way for the Sycamores. Reed finished with 17 points and a career-high seven assists at the point for ISU, while Crawford chipped in 13 points and five rebounds. Tucker led all scorers with 26 points and nine rebounds, with Kelly and Jabari Currie finishing with 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Blue Demons.
Indiana State returns to action on Monday night, when the team returns home to face off against Arkansas State. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. ET on the Nellie and John Wooden Court at Hulman Center.
