1981 DePaul Basketball: A Great Season They Couldn’t Finish
DePaul followed up their Final Four run of 1979 with a magnificent regular season in 1980 that earned them a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But it ended with a heartbreaking loss in the Round of 32. The 1981 DePaul basketball team was loaded and came out hungry for redemption. From late November to mid-March, they dominated. When the NCAA Tournament arrived, their fate was another crushing loss in the second round.
BUILT TO WIN
Mark Aguirre led the way. The All-American forward would end up as the #1 pick in the NBA draft the following summer. He averaged 23 points/9 rebounds/5 assists per game. Terry Cummings, a terrific sophomore forward with a good NBA career ahead of him, averaged 13 points/9 rebounds.
DePaul was fast in the backcourt. Skip Dillard and Clyde Bradshaw were disruptors on defense. Bradshaw was a skilled floor leader who averaged seven assists per game, and both were double-digit scorers. With this talent in the fold, the Blue Demons were ranked #2 in the preseason polls.
OPENING SALVO
The college basketball season used to open with a showcase game in Springfield, MA, home of the Basketball Hall of Fame. This year’s game saw DePaul take on Louisville, the defending national champion and ranked #3 in the country.
Aguirre, having lost over 30 pounds in the offseason, put on a show, scoring 24 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. The game was tied 61-61 with just over nine minutes to play. DePaul went on a 13-3 run that included a couple of thunderous dunks from Aguirre. The Blue Demons got an 86-80 win.
An easy win over 19-win Gonzaga in the home opener followed, and DePaul went into a soft part of the schedule that saw them get to 8-0 and move to #1 in the polls by the Saturday after Christmas. It was time for the rematch they had been waiting for.
GRUDGE GAME
UCLA and DePaul were developing a healthy rivalry. In addition to playing each other regularly in the early season, they had met in the last two NCAA Tournaments. The Blue Demons beat the Bruins in a regional final in 1979, but UCLA had returned the favor in last March’s upset.
DePaul had something to prove on their home floor and they played like it. The forward duo was fantastic, with Aguirre and Cummings combining for 42 points. Teddy Grubbs, the third frontcourt starter, knocked down 16 points, many of them early, as the Blue Demons built a 47-29 lead by halftime. They shot 63 percent and cruised to a 93-77 win.
The Blue Demons traveled to San Diego for a holiday tournament two days later. They knocked off NCAA Tournament-bound Georgetown, along with host San Diego State. The calendar flipped to the New Year with DePaul at 11-0 and riding high.
A SURPRISING STUMBLE
After a couple of easy wins, DePaul hosted Old Dominion on a Saturday afternoon at Rosemont Horizon. The Monarchs had a decent team, bound for 18 wins. But there was no reason to expect what happened—the Blue Demons suffered a shocking 63-62 loss and slipped to #4 in the polls.
A soft schedule helped them bounce back with four wins to close out the month of January at 17-1. They opened February by hosting Syracuse. The normally potent Orangemen were on a down year that saw them miss the NCAA field. DePaul cruised to a 91-69 win. A week later, they hosted Alabama-Birmingham, who ended up making an unlikely run to the Sweet 16. The Blue Demons won 77-66 and then knocked off NCAA-bound Creighton and a respectable Evansville team. DePaul had responded well to the disappointment of the Old Dominion loss.
CLOSING STRONG
Marquette, along with Notre Dame, was one of the Midwest Catholic rivals that DePaul regularly played. The Warriors, after having some great teams in the 1970s, were starting to decline and would miss the NCAA field this year. But that was a fate they were trying to avoid when they came to Rosemont Horizon on February 21. The game was tied 59-59 in the second half.
But DePaul’s forwards were too good. Aguirre scored 24, Cummings added 22 more and the Blue Demons got control in a 78-71 win. After blasting Butler, Loyola-Chicago and Dayton, the last regular season game remained—Notre Dame was coming to Rosemont.
This was a good Irish team, one that would get a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament and who had upended undefeated and top-ranked Virginia on this very floor at Rosemont in late February. The DePaul-Notre Dame battle, played on Selection Sunday, was a great way to prepare for the NCAA Tournament.
The Blue Demons looked like a team ready to go on a big run in March. They were in control throughout the game. Aguirre, even dealing with foul trouble, scored 24 points. Bradshaw was magnificent, with 14 points, 13 assists and three steals. DePaul cruised to a 74-64 win. They closed the season at 27-1 and were back to #1 in the country.
THE BRACKET REALITY
DePaul was the #1 seed in the Mideast Regional (the organizational forerunner of today’s South bracket). They were primed to make a run to Philadelphia and the Final Four, but there was reason for dismay at the bracket placement.
The Mideast Regionals would be held in Bloomington, at Indiana’s Assembly Hall. And Bob Knight’s Hoosiers were on the opposite side of the bracket, as the 3-seed. DePaul’s reward for their season was to potentially play a hot team (who ultimately blew through the field and won the national championship) on their home floor.
Of course, that presumed DePaul would make it to Bloomington. But who wasn’t assuming that? The NCAA field was 48 teams in 1981, meaning teams seeded 1 thru 4, got byes into the Round of 32. The Blue Demons took the floor on Saturday afternoon in Dayton to face St. Joe’s. The Hawks had a nice season, but there was no reason to expect any dramatics. Especially with everyone presuming that the previous year’s Round of 32 disappointment meant DePaul would be on high alert.
SATURDAY AFTERNOON IN DAYTON
DePaul led most of the way and watching the game, there was little reason to think an upset was looming. But the Blue Demon were letting St. Joe’s linger. Moreover, this was a different era of college basketball—no shot clock and no three-point line. An underdog could try and grind the game to a halt. That’s what the Hawks did to stay in the game. Although, paradoxically, at the game’s critical moment, DePaul tried the same thing.
With 6 ½ minutes to go and holding a steady lead, veteran head coach Ray Meyer pulled DePaul into a slowdown game to try and run the clock out. They began playing not to lose. St. Joe’s closed to within 48-47 in the final minute. Even so, with less than ten seconds to play, Dillard went to the free throw line for a bonus opportunity. Hit both, and the game was over.
Instead, Dillard missed the front end. St. Joe’s raced up the floor, eschewing a timeout. In transition, they got a wide open layup just before the buzzer. In a stunning development, DePaul lost 49-48.
MARCH CAN BE MERCILESS
This year’s ending was even more devastating than in 1980. At least that loss, coming to UCLA, had been to a program with pedigree and NBA talent that just underachieved during the regular season. This 1981 defeat was inexplicable.
To DePaul’s great credit, they put it behind them to have another fantastic year in 1982 and again earn a #1 seed. But to the amazement of the nation, they again managed to lose in the Round of 32. 1981 was part of a three-year run that was a strange mix of outstanding, mystifying and heartbreaking.