March 10
Men's Basketball
1944 - DePaul legend George Mikan scored 34 points in an 80-44 victory over Concordia (Ill.) that closed out the regular season. Second-year coach Ray Meyer led the Blue Demons to a 22-4 mark behind a pair of All-Americans in Mikan and guard Dick Triptow. The win over Concordia was the third of the season for the Meyer-men.
In their post-season berth in the NIT, DePaul opened with a 68-45 victory over Muhlenberg. That set-up a match-up of huge proportions as Mikan and the Blue Demons were set to battle Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) and Big man Bob Kurland. Kurland, a seven-footer, was the chief rival for Mikan. Both are credited with necessitating the advent of the goal-tending rule in 1945. Previously, Mikan and Kurland would just whisk balls off the rim when their opponents would put up shots.
The Blue Demons got the better of the NIT match-up in 1944 and advanced to the NIT Championship where they would fall to St. John's, 47-39.
Women's Basketball
1985 - DePaul closed the 1985 campaign with a 96-46 victory over Butler under the direction of head coach Jim Izard. Surprisingly, the 50-point deficit ranks as the 13th-largest margin of victory in DePaul history. The Blue Demon record for largest margin of victory belongs to the 1978-79 squad that defeated Chicago State,101-23, on December 14, 1978.
The season-ending victory over Butler capped a 19-9 campaign for the 1985 Blue Demons.Senior Mary Lou O'Brien captained that squad for the second-consecutive season. She ranks 24th on the all-times game played list at DePaul.
The win was victory no.2 in a streak that would reach eleven games that dated from March 8, 1985 - January 4, 1986. The streak ranks as the fourth-longest streak in DePaul women's basketball history.
