Following a disapointing road loss to St. John's last Wednesday, DePaul rebounded nicely on Saturday and improved to 1-1 in the Big East (10-6 overall). They defeated the Villanova Wildcats 73-65 at The Pavillion in Philadelphia.

It was a crucial victory for the Blue Demons who, despite being undefeated at home (7-0), entered Saturday's game just 2-6 on the road and in dire need of an away win.

Senior guard, Sammy Mejia led the way for DePaul with 23 points and 4 steals.

The victory was a convincing one. DePaul was in the lead for all but 18 seconds of the game and won for the first time in Philadelphia since 1976.

Taking only a 37-33 lead into the second half, it was obvious that free throws might once again play a large role in the outcome of the game.

DePaul missed 12 free throws in their 11 point loss to St. John's last week, 7 against Chicago State, 8 against Rhode Island, and 9 against Wake Forest. You get the idea. DePaul has not been a good free throw shooting team and it cost them a victory in their first conference game of the season against the Red Storm.

Blue Demon free throw shooting could've been better on Saturday (the team made only 13 of 25 from the charity stripe) but they did sink them when they mattered most. DePaul made 9 of 12 free throw attempts in the last two minutes of the game to secure an 8 point victory despite a 9-3 Villanova run during the game's final minute.

Villanova took their only lead, 51-49, with 8:51 remaining in the game courtesy of a jumper from sophomore guard Shane Clark.

But DePaul showed poise and bounced immediately back to retake the lead, a lead they held onto for the rest of the day following a clutch three-pointer from junior guard Draelon Burns. Burns tallied 13 in the victory.

Burns shot also sparked an 18-8 Depaul run over the next eight minutes.

The Blue Demon defense came up big down the stretch too and Villanova was unable to penetrate. Poor outside shot selection resulted in the Wildcats shooting only 34 percent from the floor in the second half and only 32 percent from three-point range. The rebounding of DePaul forward Wilson Chandler was key down the stretch. Chandler led all participants with 11 rebounds, complimenting his 18 points nicely.

Freshman guard Scottie Reynolds led Villanova, and all scorers, with 25 points.

DePaul continues Big East play as they host the #7 ranked team in the country, Pitt (14-2 overall, 2-0 in conference), at the Allstate Arena on Wednesday, January 10.