DePaul players heard their fans booing as time ticked down on a lopsided home loss to Villanova on Dec. 23.
On Saturday in Chicago, the slumping Blue Demons will aim to channel their angst into energy when they host Chicago State in their nonconference finale.
“It’s really just motivation for us,” forward Da’Sean Nelson said. “I mean, that’s obviously not a good thing to get booed off the floor or whatever, but I feel that it’s motivation for our team to come after the (holiday) break and lock in. Continue to work hard and continue to get better every day.”
DePaul (2-9) struggled to 30.4 percent shooting against Villanova, which finished at 53.6 percent from the floor in an 84-48 runaway.
Nelson, Jaden Henley and Chico Carter Jr. scored 11 points apiece for the Blue Demons.
DePaul went just 4-for-24 (16.7 percent) from beyond the arc while finishing minus-18 on the glass.
“Honestly, to start the game, we had a lot of pop to us. A lot of energy to us,” Henley said. “In the second half, we didn’t come out with the same energy. We were really defeated coming out.”
The Wildcats outscored the Blue Demons by 18 in both halves of DePaul’s Big East opener.
Chicago State (7-11) has lost two straight on the heels of a four-game winning streak that started Dec. 13 with the program’s first-ever victory against Northwestern, which then was ranked No. 25 in the AP poll.
The Cougars lost 74-62 at California Baptist on Wednesday, five days after falling by 27 points at Wisconsin in the opener of an eight-game road trip.
Chicago State’s Wesley Cardet Jr. led all scorers with 27 points to go with five assists, while Jahsean Corbett had 20 points and eight rebounds.
DePaul is 16-0 against Chicago State all-time. The schools haven’t met since the Blue Demons routed the visiting Cougars 104-70 on Dec. 12, 2018.
–Field Level Media