1978–79 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team

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 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.[1] They finished the season with an overall record of 26–6.

1978–79 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball
NCAA Tournament, Third place
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 8
APNo. 6
1978–79 record26–6
Head coach
Assistant coachJoey Meyer (5th season)
Home arenaAlumni Hall
1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball independents standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
No. 8 Syracuse   264  .867
Georgetown   245  .828
No. 6 DePaul   266  .813
No. 4 Notre Dame   246  .800
VCU   205  .800
Iona   236  .793
Detroit   226  .786
Tennessee State   206  .769
Old Dominion   237  .767
Marquette   227  .759
Wagner   217  .750
Connecticut   218  .724
UNLV   218  .724
UNC Wilmington   198  .704
Boston College   219  .700
James Madison   188  .692
Rhode Island   209  .690
George Mason   178  .680
St. Bonaventure   199  .679
Illinois State   2010  .667
Dayton   1910  .655
Boston University   179  .654
Fairfield   179  .654
Georgia Tech   179  .654
Oral Roberts   1710  .630
Holy Cross   1711  .607
Cleveland State   1510  .600
Maine   1410  .583
Army   1411  .560
Denver   1512  .556
South Carolina   1512  .556
Stetson   1512  .556
Siena   1412  .538
St. Francis (NY)   1412  .538
Navy   1312  .520
Xavier   1413  .519
Northeastern   1313  .500
Saint Francis (PA)   1313  .500
Robert Morris   1314  .481
Southern Miss   1314  .481
Air Force   1213  .480
Long Island University   1213  .480
Canisius   1214  .462
Colgate   1214  .462
Evansville   1316  .448
East Carolina   1215  .444
Loyola-Chicago   1215  .444
Butler   1116  .407
North Texas   1116  .407
Saint Peter's   1015  .400
Campbell   1016  .385
New Hampshire   1016  .385
Providence   1016  .385
Richmond   1016  .385
Hawaii   1017  .370
William & Mary   917  .346
Georgia Southern   918  .333
Fairleigh Dickinson   818  .308
Wisconsin-Milwaukee   818  .308
Vermont   818  .308
Northwestern State   719  .269
Catholic   620  .231
Arkansas-Little Rock   620  .231
Niagara   620  .231
Portland State   621  .222
Baltimore   420  .167
Valparaiso   421  .160
Charleston Southern   225  .074
Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

1978–79 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
F/C 11 James Mitchem 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)215 lb (98 kg) JrSt. Pius X Albuquerque, NM
G 15 Clyde Bradshaw 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)170 lb (77 kg) SoEast Orange East Orange, NJ
F 21 Dennis McGuire 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)195 lb (88 kg) SoHoly Cross River Grove, Illinois
G 24 Gary Garland 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
SrClifford J. Scott East Orange, NJ
F 30 Curtis Watkins 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)190 lb (86 kg) SrThornton Harvey, IL
F 32 Mark Aguirre 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)225 lb (102 kg) FrWestinghouse Chicago, IL
F/C 54 William Madey 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)220 lb (100 kg) JrGordon Tech Chicago, IL
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

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

Roster

Schedule and results

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[2]  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

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Final 
AP NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 20 15 8 6 
Coaches NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 20 11 8 Not released

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

Source [3][4]

Awards and honors

References

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