By Peyton Wesner
Seventh Place Game
1:30 PM EST-ESPN3
6-6 DePaul
3-8 Loyola Marymount
In my opinion DePaul has been the biggest disappointment of the tournament. Yes, the Blue Demons came in on a three game slide but to not only get beat but blownout by 21 points to the Ohio Bobcats is a disgrace to the program. And it is not like DePaul has a poor team, they have defeated Chasson Randle's (SR) Stanford Cardinal by 15 points, and have four quality players that can score the basketball at will in Myke Henry (JR, 14.8 PPG), Tommy Hamiton IV (SO, 13.2 PPG), Billy Garrett Jr. (SO, 12.6 PPG), and Jamee Crockett (SR, 12.0 PPG). The problem for DePaul, specifically in this tournament, is that they have struggled to shoot well from the field like in the 82-68 loss to Colorado or have played notorious defensively shown by giving up 99 points to Ohio. If DePaul cannot improve these problems going into conference play, it could be a long season for them in the tough Big East. A team looking to exploit the holes in the Blue Demons game is the Loyola Marymount Lions. The Lions have had a tough time in the Diamond Head Classic because they have had to play superior teams like the number eleven ranked Wichita State Shockers and a team ranked at the beginning of the season. On Day 1, Loyola Marymount was destroyed by the Wichita State Shockers but on Day 2, the Lions played very well against Nebraska and was evenually edged out in overtime 50-42. So will the "kids from Cali" be able to steal a win today. Well for a Loyola Marymount it all starts with Evan Payne (SO). Payne has also struggled during the tournament as he has only averaged 11 points per game, which is more than eight points less than his season average (19.7 PPG). My key of the game for Loyola Marymount is to help Evan Payne with the scoring and play solid defense. Payne can only score so many points since he is one man but if the Lions can get points from Seniors Ayodeji Egbeyemi (9.1 PPG and 4.2 RPG) and Godwin Okonji (3.6 PPG and 6.2 RPG) against a DePaul team that plays poor defense, their chances of winning will increase greatly. Also, if the shots are not falling for LMU, the Lions will need to step up on defense and get stops against a Blue Demons team that has struggled to score in Hawaii but has much talent. The key of the game for DePaul is shutting down Evan Payne by playing solid defense. Payne is like Colorado's Askia Booker (SR) meaning that with him his team's offense goes. Now the Blue Demons had a tough time stoping Booker on Monday, will they struggle to stop Payne this afternoon? If they do, DePaul better play lockdown defense on the rest of the Lions' starters because if not they may be heading back to Rosemont, Illinois, very disappointed.
---DePaul 74, Loyola Marymount 67
Fifth Place Game
4:00 PM EST-ESPNU
4-5 Ohio
7-4 Nebraska
Diamond Head Classic Championship
8:30 PM EST-ESPN2
8-3 George Washington
10-1 11. Wichita State
Although many teams "don't want to go to war with the Shockers," George Washinton is looking forward to the opportunity. George Washington came into the tournament off a loss to Penn State but soon put that behind them in a 77-49 blowout win to the Ohio Bobcats setting up a semi-final matchup with the Colorado Buffalos. The game against Colorado was highly anticipated by me since both teams were good on both ends of the court. Also, I was looking forward to seeing who would win the battle of the point guards, Colorado's Askia Booker (SR) or George Washington's Kethan Savage (SO)? Early on, George Washington had control of the tempo and slowly took an 18-9 lead halfway through the first half. The Buffalos then made a run going into halftime led by Junior Josh Scott, which cut the deficit to four at the score of 30-26. Coming out of halftime, Colorado seized the lead quickly with two Wesley Gordon layups giving CU a 32-30 lead. The Buffalos held command of the game and a five point lead with under seven minutes to go in the second half giving the feel that they would move on to the Championship. Unfortunately for Colorado, Joe McDonald had another thing in mind. McDonald scored the next four of George Washington's six points on offense while the defense held the Buffalos to none during the span giving the Colonials a 46-44 lead with 3:44 left in game. Askia Booker tried to single-handedly guide his team to victory with two layups late (four of eight points) but Colorado fouls gave George Washington free points down the stretch. The game came down to Colorado down 53-50 with ten seconds left.
PW's DHC Record Coming into Today: 5-3
Diamond Head Classic All Tourney
Team
Ron Baker (JR) Wichita State
Kevin Larsen (JR) George Washington
Askia Booker (SR) Colorado
Aaron Valdes (SO) Hawaii
Terran Pettaway (JR) Nebraska
Most Outstanding Player: Ron Baker (SO) Wichita State
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