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DePauw loses fourth straight
GREENCASTLE -- DePauw broke poorly out of the gate and never recovered Sunday, losing 62-54 to Centre in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball game at Neal Fieldhouse.
The Tigers (6-6, 1-2 SCAC) shot 22.7 percent (5-of-22) from the field in the first half, which ended with them trailing 31-17.
"When we had good shots, we didn't make them," DePauw coach Bill Fenlon said. "Our timing was really bad and we're not doing a good job at creating good opportunities for each other, so it was pretty much a complete offensive breakdown in the first half.
"I felt like they (Centre) weren't playing great either, and they didn't get off to a very good start and if we hadn't turned the ball over early and converted a little bit, the game might have had a little different feel from the get go. But the start we had was really the big deal."
DePauw out-scored the Colonels (8-2, 3-0 SCAC) 37-31 in the second half. The Tigers slowly sliced points off Centre's lead, reducing it to 55-51 with 1:03 remaining on Tommy Weakley's 3-pointer.
Fenlon felt better about the Tigers played in the second half, but he wasn't thrilled by it, either.
"A little bit," he said. "I feel like we had some opportunities."
Reserve guard Michael Wilkison was a bright spot in the second half, when he played 11 of his 16 minutes. The 5-foot-10 freshman from Cincinnati scored all of his team-high 15 points in the final seven minutes to lead the Tigers' late charge.
"He's a freshman who has been really up and down," Fenlon said, "but I felt like we were having some trouble handling the ball and he gave us a little more ball handling and was able to create some stuff off ball screens. Within what were trying to do, he made some pretty good decisions and he made his open shots and he was able to get fouled a little bit."
Wilkison was 3-of-6 from the field, 2-of-3 on 3-pointers, and 7-of-8 at the foul line.
DePauw's leading scorer was at the other end of the spectrum. Sean Haseley, who was averaging 15.6 per game, went scoreless and took only one shot from the field in 15 minutes. Fenlon pulled him with 15:54 to go and he didn't return.
"He wasn't ready to go," Fenlon said. "He got off to a really bad start and he just didn't look like he was going to come out of it to me. He hasn't practiced well. How long can you look at a guy? He's struggling a little bit in general. He's got to get himself regrouped, as the whole group does."
It was the fourth straight loss for the Tigers and it's prompted Fenlon into considering making some changes in his starting lineup and rotation.
"When you get beat four times in a row, it's probably time to think about that a little bit and that's what we'll be doing," Fenlon explained. "I think we need to look at our slow start and we need to figure out if maybe we've got the wrong guys out there to begin the game. I don't know, but we've got to get some stuff figured out."
"I hope we're not who we were today. Part of the problem we've got is we're playing a bunch of seniors and they're not improving. They're not getting better and if they don't get better, the team's not going to get better and we need to play somebody else."
At DePauw
Centre 31 31 -- 62
DePauw 17 37 -- 54
CENTRE (8-2, 3-0 SCAC)
Ellis 2-5 0-0 6, Mullaney 1-7 9-10 12, Ross 4-6 7-7 15, Whiteside 5-7 5-7 16, Lloyd 2-5 0-0 4, Griggs 1-1 0-0 2, Lopez 1-1 1-2 3, Newsome 1-1 0-0 2, Binder 1-2 0-0 2, Totals 18-35 22-26 62.
DEPAUW (6-6, 1-2 SCAC)
Simpson 1-3 0-0 3, Wills 3-10 4-5 10, Russell 1-2 1-1 3, Haseley 0-1 0-0 0, Bergfeld 4-10 0-1 8, Haggin 0-0 0-0 0, Rump 0-0 0-0 0, Weakley 3-7 0-0 8, Lemasters 1-4 3-3 5, Burns 0-3 0-0 0, Sever 0-1 2-3 2, Totals 16-47 17-21 54.
3-point field goals: C 4-8 (Ellis 2-4, Mullaney 1-1, Whiteside 1-2, Lloyd 0-1), DP 5-14 (Wilikison 2-3, Weakley 2-4, Simpson 1-2, Wills 0-2, Lemasters 0-3). Rebounds: C 28 (Lloyd 9), DP (Bergfeld 6). Assists: C 12 (Mullaney 4), DP 5. Turnovers: C 19, DP 14). Total fouls: C 18, DP 19. Fouled out: Ross.