Defense continues to dominate

there wasn't much doubt about this one.  NU jumped out to leads of 7-0 and 20-8 on their way to a 31-16 halftime lead, and DePaul never got closer than 13 in the second half.  Coble and Moore combined for 39 points and went 7/15 from 3PT, but this one was about the defense:  36 points allowed, 24% FG defense, 3/15 3PT defense, only two Blue Demons scored more than 5 points.  all of that adds up to DePaul's lowest point total since 1949.

NU now sits at 6-1 and look like they will enter conference play at 8-2.  i'm projecting a loss at Stanford and wins in home games against the 3-6 UMKC Kangaroos (although they do have wins over Valley teams Bradley and Wichita State) and 3-3 SMU. (i'm not impressed by wins over Houston Baptist, Alabama State and Texas A&M International)

i'm not going to stop complaining about the attendance (again less than 50% full today), but the way this team is playing is a little startling.  it's not just the wins or even the margin of victory.  these guys are playing (and shooting) with a ton of confidence in a way that i haven't seen since the days of Evan Eschmeyer.  and that confidence apparently has seeped into the fan base.  text messages i received during the game today included "this team is going to win the big ten" and "I'm in for march madness.  punch my ticket."  i even found myself wondering if we'd move into the "Others Receiving Votes" category on Monday.  dare we dream???