In End, Defeating DePaul Was Plane and Simple

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Excuses, excuses. Who likes excuses?

Former DePaul coach Ray Meyer turned 86 on Saturday, and his beloved university celebrated by getting 86ed by UCLA in one of the worst basketball performances at Pauley Pavilion in, well, a week.

UCLA’s 76-58 victory over DePaul was impressive, emphatic and much needed.

For DePaul, it was DeFlating.

People paid Westside money to witness the alleged return of the Blue Demons, a proud if not titleless program in the halcyon days of chunky Mark Aquirre and the avuncular Meyer, only to see a team that performed like Joey Meyer’s 3-23 squad in 1996-97.

That was the last season for Ray’s son, ushered out of Chicago and replaced by Pat Kennedy, who recruited Quentin Richardson two years ago with plans to get DePaul back on the map this season.

Well?

After trailing by two points at the half, UCLA ran over DePaul like a runaway “El.”

DePaul entered the nationally televised game 7-2 and ranked 19th, but left asking America for a rain check.

“We can’t be a program that’s almost over the hump,” DePaul guard Paul McPherson said. “We’ve got to win these games. We want to get to the NCAA tournament, and the committee looks at these games.”

Before UCLA, DePaul had fallen to two ranked teams; a four-point defeat to Texas and an overtime loss to Duke.

OK, fine. Those are perfectly acceptable, early-season losses.

But not Saturday’s. Saturday’s second-half collapse was an unexcused absence that required a note from DePaul’s doctor.

The Blue Demons entered as the nation’s second-best shooting team at 51%, but limped out of Westwood having shot 30% against the Bruins, a woeful 25% in the second half.

You expected nothing less than a good excuse after stinking out the joint and, in fact, DePaul offered two pretty good ones.

First, the team played without its point guard, Rashon Burno, who is out three to five weeks after spraining his knee in Tuesday night’s victory over St. John’s.

Kerry Hartfield attempted to take the point in Burno’s place. He made one of nine shot attempts and had four assists and three turnovers.

“We were out of whack at the point,” Kennedy said. “Simple as that. Without him, we’re a headless horse.”

A tired, headless horse, or didn’t you hear about DePaul’s trip West?

The Blue Demons almost had to cancel the game Friday afternoon after getting stuck in Chicago O’Hare Airport.

The team’s morning flight to Los Angeles was scrubbed after an American Airlines flight slid off the runway.

“The [Federal Aviation Administration] shut down the airport,” Kennedy said. “The whole nation was screwed up.”

DePaul officials scrambled to get another flight, but at one point, when the prospects looked bleak, they called UCLA to say they might not make it to the game.

Assistant sports information director Scott Reed, traveling with the squad, said the school caught a break when a United Airlines gate agent, who happened to be a DePaul basketball fan, told the team to forget the early afternoon flights and shoot for a 4:15 p.m. United departure. The plane was a 747, which holds nearly 500 passengers.

“We got to the gate and there were 200 standby passengers,” Reed said. “The line looked like a ride at Disneyland.”

Had DePaul missed the 4:15, Saturday’s game would have been dust. UCLA sports information director Marc Dellins said he alerted the Pacific 10 Conference to the possibility and contemplated the logistical nightmare.

The Bruins leave today for a tournament in Hawaii, but would have needed to reschedule DePaul at a later date.

Someone mentioned Miami as a possibility.

DePaul made the flight, but did not arrive in L.A. until 10:30 Friday night, and did not get to practice.

“Our kids were screwed up,” Kennedy said. “They knew we needed to practice.”

Kennedy actually thought his team looked OK at a one-hour workout on Saturday, but it faded dramatically in the end.

“We were so bad offensively,” he said. “We missed shots we normally make. We didn’t have any legs, or any explosiveness.”

DePaul gave UCLA credit for taking it to a team that was there for the taking. Kennedy told his team UCLA would be “fired up” after last week’s dismal loss to Gonzaga, and Kennedy was right.

“I told our kids, other than Duke, this is the second most talented team we’ll play this year,” he said.

High praise considering DePaul plays Cincinnati in Conference USA games.

Richardson, a preseason All-American, finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds, but made only eight of 23 shots.

“I thought I took some bad shots,” he said. “I’m pretty positive about that.”

Normally a ferocious offensive rebounder, Richardson finished with only five, crediting a solid defensive scheme against him and UCLA’s twin tower combination of 6-foot-11 Dan Gadzuric and 6-10 Jerome Moiso.

“They packed it in the whole game,” Richardson said. “With Moiso and Gadzuric there, it’s tough for one guy to get inside.”

Afterward, Richardson couldn’t wait to get outside.

He barely had a chance to look at UCLA’s 11 national title banners.

“It disappoints me to lose by 18 points, regardless of where it is,” he said.

Or how hard it was to get there.