St. Louis Upsets DePaul

Quentin Richardson was shocked to learn he's turning pro, just as he was surprised at DePaul's performance against unranked Saint Louis.

Justin Love scored 10 of his 18 points in overtime and the Billikens upset the No. 23 Blue Demons 75-69 on Saturday.

DePaul (12-7, 3-3 Conference USA) has now lost three of four games against unranked opponents.

"When the coaches showed me the story, I just laughed. I didn't know what to think," said Richardson, who had 22 points Saturday. "I knew I never said anything. It was a false statement by them."

DePaul coach Pat Kennedy echoed that.

"It's mindboggling, it's the lowest form of low," Kennedy said. "I feel bad for Q but I feel worse for you guys. It's a terrible indictment of the media."

Richardson wasn't sure how the Blue Demons would work out of their slump.

"This is definitely my lowest point here," Richardson said. "The mood in the locker room showed me that we wanted to win, but the guys didn't take that to the court. I don't know if the guys are looking to me too much. I didn't notice that when I'm out there."

Saint Louis (10-7, 2-3) had lost eight straight road games.

"This was our biggest win yet, because it's in conference," Saint Louis coach Lorenzo Romar said. "As for the streak, that's broken."

After Richardson's 3-pointer gave DePaul a 63-62 overtime lead, Love hit four free throws and two jumpers to give Saint Louis a 70-65 edge with 47 seconds left. Rashon Burno's jumper cut the lead to three with 28 seconds left, but Saint Louis' Dave Fergerson, who had 18 points, made three free throws in the final 25 seconds.

"Dave played outstanding," Romar said. "And Justin Love decided he wouldn't let us lose."

Saint Louis held DePaul to 33 percent shooting in the second half.

"We wanted to wear them out, inside and out," Love said. "Other than Hartfield, who hit some shots, and Q, they didn't have the shooters for our zone."

DePaul came out sluggish, committing 13 first-half turnovers, many on lazy passes and sloppy ballhandling. The Billikens led 15-12 when Troy Robertson scored and was fouled hard by reserve point guard George Baker. Baker was sandwiched by Robertson and teammate Kerry Hartfield as he fell to the floor and had to be helped off the court with a back injury. He did not return.

Saint Louis built a 30-23 halftime lead thanks to eight points on 4-of-4 shooting by center Chris Heinrich.

"The big redheaded kid stepped up," Kennedy said of Heinrich.

DePaul came out with some fire after the break, scoring the first seven points to tie the game. The Billikens, missing an opportunity to regain control, turned the ball over seven times over nine possessions midway through the second half.

Neither team led by more than three points through the remainder of regulation.

After a wild miss by Burno, Fergerson scored on a layup to give the Billkens a 58-56 lead with two minutes left. Bobby Simmons hit two free-throws to tie the game with 33 seconds remaining. The Billikens held for the final shot and Love missed a short jumper with three-tenths of a second to go.

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