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1978–79 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team

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1978–79 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Final Four
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 8
APNo. 6
Record26–6
Head coach
Assistant coachJoey Meyer (5th season)
Home arenaAlumni Hall
Seasons
1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball independents standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 8 Syracuse   26 4   .867
Georgetown   24 5   .828
No. 6 DePaul   26 6   .813
No. 4 Notre Dame   24 6   .800
VCU   20 5   .800
Iona   23 6   .793
Detroit   22 6   .786
Tennessee State   20 6   .769
Old Dominion   23 7   .767
No. 10 Marquette   22 7   .759
Wagner   21 7   .750
Connecticut   21 8   .724
UNLV   21 8   .724
UNC Wilmington   19 8   .704
Boston College   21 9   .700
James Madison   18 8   .692
Rhode Island   20 9   .690
George Mason   17 8   .680
St. Bonaventure   19 9   .679
Illinois State   20 10   .667
St. John's   21 11   .656
Dayton   19 10   .655
Boston University   17 9   .654
Fairfield   17 9   .654
Georgia Tech   17 9   .654
Oral Roberts   17 10   .630
Holy Cross   17 11   .607
Seton Hall   16 11   .593
Cleveland State   15 10   .600
Maine   14 10   .583
Army   14 11   .560
Denver   15 12   .556
South Carolina   15 12   .556
Stetson   15 12   .556
Siena   14 12   .538
St. Francis (NY)   14 12   .538
Navy   13 12   .520
Xavier   14 13   .519
Northeastern   13 13   .500
Saint Francis (PA)   13 13   .500
Robert Morris   13 14   .481
Southern Miss   13 14   .481
Air Force   12 13   .480
Long Island University   12 13   .480
Canisius   12 14   .462
Colgate   12 14   .462
Evansville   13 16   .448
East Carolina   12 15   .444
Loyola-Chicago   12 15   .444
Butler   11 16   .407
North Texas State   11 16   .407
Saint Peter's   10 15   .400
Campbell   10 16   .385
New Hampshire   10 16   .385
Providence   10 16   .385
Richmond   10 16   .385
Hawaii   10 17   .370
William & Mary   9 17   .346
Georgia Southern   9 18   .333
Fairleigh Dickinson   8 18   .308
Wisconsin-Milwaukee   8 18   .308
Vermont   8 18   .308
Northwestern State   7 19   .269
Fordham   7 22   .241
Catholic   6 20   .231
Arkansas-Little Rock   6 20   .231
Manhattan   6 20   .231
Niagara   6 20   .231
Portland State   6 21   .222
Baltimore   4 20   .167
Valparaiso   4 21   .160
Baptist   2 25   .074
Rankings from AP Poll


The 1978–79 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team represented DePaul University during the 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by head coach Ray Meyer, in his 37th season, and played their home games at the Alumni Hall in Chicago. After starting the regular season unranked, the Blue Demons won 22 of 27 games to earn a top ten ranking and the #2 seed in the West region of the NCAA tournament. DePaul began tournament play by defeating USC[1] and Marquette, then knocked off #1 seed UCLA, avenging a season-opening loss, to earn the program's second trip to the Final Four. Though the team fell to the #1 ranked and unbeaten Indiana State – led by NCAA Player of the Year Larry Bird – in the National semifinals, they bounced back to defeat Penn to claim third place.[2] They finished the season with an overall record of 26–6.

Roster

[edit]
1978–79 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
F/C 11 James Mitchem 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr St. Pius X Albuquerque, NM
G 15 Clyde Bradshaw 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So East Orange East Orange, NJ
F 21 Dennis McGuire 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Holy Cross River Grove, Illinois
G 24 Gary Garland 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Sr Clifford J. Scott East Orange, NJ
F 30 Curtis Watkins 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Thornton Harvey, IL
F 32 Mark Aguirre 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Westinghouse Chicago, IL
F/C 54 William Madey 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Gordon Tech Chicago, IL
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results

[edit]
Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular season
Nov 25, 1978*
at No. 2 UCLA L 85–108  0–1
Pauley Pavilion (12,178)
Los Angeles, CA
Nov 29, 1978*
at Evansville W 74–55  1–1
Roberts Stadium 
Evansville, IN
Dec 2, 1978*
Northern Illinois W 108–86  2–1
Alumni Hall 
Chicago, IL
Dec 4, 1978*
Eastern Michigan W 96–68  3–1
Alumni Hall 
Chicago, IL
Dec 9, 1978*
at Wichita State L 92–95  3–2
Levitt Arena 
Wichita, KS
Dec 13, 1978*
at Butler W 81–62  4–2
Hinkle Fieldhouse 
Indianapolis, IN
Dec 16, 1978*
Wisconsin W 84–78  5–2
Alumni Hall 
Chicago, IL
Dec 19, 1978*
Northwestern W 90–83 OT 6–2
Alumni Hall 
Chicago, IL
Dec 23, 1978*
at Bradley W 51–50  7–2
Robertson Memorial Field House 
Peoria, IL
Dec 30, 1978*
Creighton W 88–70  8–2
Alumni Hall 
Chicago, IL
Jan 2, 1979*
Georgia Tech W 77–71  9–2
Alumni Hall 
Chicago, IL
Jan 6, 1979*
Air Force W 86–66  10–2
Alumni Hall 
Chicago, IL
Jan 9, 1979*
at Providence W 84–75  11–2
Dunkin' Donuts Center 
Providence, RI
Jan 13, 1979*
Loyola (IL) W 80–73  12–2
Alumni Hall 
Chicago, IL
Jan 20, 1979*
at Dayton L 64–68  12–3
University of Dayton Arena 
Dayton, OH
Jan 27, 1979*
at Illinois State W 87–69  13–3
Horton Field House 
Normal, IL
Jan 31, 1979*
at Western Michigan L 80–82  13–4
University Arena 
Kalamazoo, MI
Feb 3, 1979*
at Oral Roberts W 75–72  14–4
Mabee Center 
Tulsa, OK
Feb 8, 1979*
at Loyola (IL) W 77–73  15–4
Alumni Gym 
Chicago, IL
Feb 10, 1979*
Centenary W 82–66  16–4
Alumni Hall 
Chicago, IL
Feb 14, 1979*
at Ball State W 85–76  17–4
Irving Gymnasium 
Muncie, IN
Feb 17, 1979*
at Villanova W 69–66  18–4
The Palestra 
Philadelphia, PA
Feb 21, 1979*
No. 20 Valparaiso W 104–76  19–4
Alumni Hall 
Chicago, IL
Feb 24, 1979*
No. 20 No. 9 Marquette W 61–60  20–4
Alumni Hall 
Chicago, IL
Feb 27, 1979*
No. 15 UAB W 88–66  21–4
Alumni Hall (3,113)
Chicago, IL
Mar 2, 1979*
No. 15 No. 2 Notre Dame W 76–72  22–4
Alumni Hall 
Chicago, IL
Mar 5, 1979*
No. 8 Loyola (IL) L 99–101  22–5
Alumni Hall 
Chicago, IL
NCAA Tournament
Mar 11, 1979*
(2 W) No. 6 vs. (7 W) USC
Second Round
W 89–78  23–5
Pauley Pavilion 
Los Angeles, CA
Mar 15, 1979*
(2 W) No. 6 vs. (3 W) No. 10 Marquette
Regional semifinal
W 62–56  24–5
Marriott Center 
Provo, UT
Mar 17, 1979*
(2 W) No. 6 vs. (1 W) No. 2 UCLA
Regional final
W 95–91  25–5
Marriott Center 
Provo, UT
Mar 24, 1979*
(2 W) No. 6 vs. (1 MW) No. 1 Indiana State
National semifinal
L 74–76[3]  25–6
Special Events Center 
Salt Lake City, UT
Mar 26, 1979*
(2 W) No. 6 vs. (9 E) No. 14 Penn
Consolation Game
W 96–93 OT 26–6
Special Events Center 
Salt Lake City, UT
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
W=West.

Rankings

[edit]
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP201586
Coaches20118Not released

^Coaches did not release Week 1 or Week 2 polls.

Source [4][5]

Awards and honors

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "U.C.L.A and DePaul Triumphant in West". The New York Times. March 12, 1979. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  2. ^ "It was Magic vs. Bird in the Final Four 40 years ago, but do you remember Mark Aguirre and DePaul?". Chicago Tribune. March 18, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  3. ^ "Michigan State, Indiana State Gain NCAA Final". The Washington Post. March 25, 1979. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  4. ^ sports-reference.com 1978-79 Independent Season Summary
  5. ^ sports-reference.com 1978-79 Polls