1977–78 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team

The 1977–78 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team represented DePaul University during the 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by head coach Ray Meyer, in his 36th season, and played their home games at the Alumni Hall in Chicago. After starting the season unranked, the Blue Demons won 25 of 27 games to earn a top five ranking and the top at-large seed in the Midwest region of the NCAA tournament. DePaul began tournament play by defeating Creighton^[1] and Louisville,^[2] before losing to Notre Dame in the Midwest regional final.^[3] They finished the season with an overall record of 27–3.

1977–78 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 3
Record	27–3
Head coach	Ray Meyer (36th season)
Assistant coach	Joey Meyer (4th season)
Home arena	Alumni Hall
Seasons ← 1976–77 1978–79 →

1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball independents standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 3 DePaul		–			–			27	–	3		.900
No. 18 Detroit		–			–			25	–	4		.862
Illinois State		–			–			24	–	4		.857
No. 8 Marquette		–			–			24	–	4		.857
Pan American		–			–			22	–	4		.846
VCU		–			–			24	–	5		.828
Fairfield		–			–			22	–	5		.815
North Texas State		–			–			22	–	6		.786
Syracuse		–			–			22	–	6		.786
Rhode Island		–			–			24	–	7		.774
Providence		–			–			24	–	8		.750
St. John's		–			–			21	–	7		.750
Utah State		–			–			21	–	7		.750
Georgetown		–			–			23	–	8		.742
No. 6 Notre Dame		–			–			23	–	8		.742
Holy Cross		–			–			20	–	7		.741
Northeast Louisiana		–			–			20	–	7		.741
UNC Wilmington		–			–			19	–	7		.731
St. Bonaventure		–			–			21	–	8		.724
UNLV		–			–			20	–	8		.714
Virginia Tech		–			–			19	–	8		.704
James Madison		–			–			18	–	8		.692
Maine		–			–			17	–	8		.680
Army		–			–			19	–	9		.679
Dayton		–			–			19	–	10		.655
St. Francis (NY)		–			–			16	–	9		.640
Iona		–			–			17	–	10		.630
William & Mary		–			–			16	–	10		.615
Air Force		–			–			15	–	10		.600
Loyola (IL)		–			–			16	–	11		.593
Mercer		–			–			16	–	11		.593
Oklahoma City		–			–			16	–	11		.593
Boston College		–			–			15	–	11		.577
Butler		–			–			15	–	11		.577
Saint Francis (PA)		–			–			15	–	11		.577
South Carolina		–			–			16	–	12		.571
Siena		–			–			13	–	10		.565
Navy		–			–			14	–	11		.560
Milwaukee		–			–			15	–	12		.556
Niagara		–			–			14	–	12		.538
Northeastern		–			–			14	–	12		.538
Southern Mississippi		–			–			13	–	12		.520
Portland State		–			–			14	–	13		.519
Stetson		–			–			14	–	13		.519
Oral Roberts		–			–			13	–	14		.481
Xavier		–			–			13	–	14		.481
Cleveland State		–			–			12	–	13		.480
Tennessee State		–			–			11	–	12		.478
Catholic		–			–			12	–	14		.462
Georgia Southern		–			–			12	–	15		.444
Northwestern State		–			–			12	–	15		.444
Connecticut		–			–			11	–	15		.423
Old Dominion		–			–			11	–	15		.423
Vermont		–			–			11	–	15		.423
Boston University		–			–			10	–	15		.400
Hardin–Simmons		–			–			10	–	16		.385
Campbell		–			–			9	–	15		.375
Centenary (LA)		–			–			10	–	17		.370
Denver		–			–			10	–	17		.370
Colgate		–			–			9	–	17		.346
East Carolina		–			–			9	–	17		.346
Long Island		–			–			8	–	18		.308
Saint Peter's		–			–			8	–	18		.308
Charleston Southern		–			–			8	–	19		.296
Samford		–			–			8	–	19		.296
Canisius		–			–			7	–	19		.269
Houston Baptist		–			–			7	–	19		.269
New Hampshire		–			–			7	–	19		.269
Wagner		–			–			7	–	19		.269
Evansville		–			–			1	–	3		.250
Fairleigh Dickinson		–			–			6	–	18		.250
Valparaiso		–			–			6	–	19		.240
Robert Morris		–			–			4	–	19		.174
Richmond		–			–			4	–	22		.154
Hawaii		–			–			1	–	26		.037
Rankings from AP Poll

Senior Dave Corzine established school records for single-season (630) and career (1,896) scoring, the latter surpassing the legendary George Mikan's total from 32 years prior. The single-season mark would only last a year as incoming freshman Mark Aguirre established a benchmark that still stands (767). Corzine also established the career rebounds total at DePaul (1,151) – a record that still persists to this day.

Roster

1977–78 DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F/C 11 James Mitchem 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So St. Pius X Albuquerque, NM G 15 Clyde Bradshaw 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr East Orange East Orange, NJ F 21 Dennis McGuire 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Holy Cross River Grove, Illinois G 24 Gary Garland 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — Jr Clifford J. Scott East Orange, NJ F 30 Curtis Watkins 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Thornton Harvey, IL C 40 Dave Corzine 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Sr John Hersey Arlington Heights, IL F/C 54 William Madey 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So Gordon Tech Chicago, IL	Head coach Ray Meyer (Notre Dame) Assistant coach(es) Joey Meyer Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Feb 1, 1978*		at Creighton	W 85–82	18–2	Omaha Civic Auditorium  Omaha, Nebraska
Feb 12, 1978*	No. 11	at No. 4 Notre Dame	W 69–68 ^OT[4]	21–2	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
NCAA Tournament
Mar 12, 1978*	(1L) No. 3	vs. (3Q) Creighton	W 80–78	26–2	Levitt Arena  Wichita, Kansas
Mar 17, 1978*	(1L) No. 3	vs. (2Q) No. 9 Louisville Midwest Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 90–89 ^2OT	27–2	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, Kansas
Mar 19, 1978*	(1L) No. 3	vs. (2L) No. 6 Notre Dame Midwest Regional Final – Elite Eight	L 64–84	27–3	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, Kansas
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest.

Rankings

Main article: 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	20	18	19	13	11	8	7	6	4	3
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	20	19	13	11	10	7	7	7	Not released

^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.

Source ^[5][6]

Awards and honors

• Ray Meyer – Henry Iba Award

References

1. "DePaul, Utah Win". The New York Times. March 13, 1978. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
2. "Notre Dame and DePaul Reach Final in Midwest". The New York Times. March 18, 1978. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
3. "Notre Dame, Duke Win Region Titles". The Washington Post. March 20, 1978. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
4. "DePaul 69, Notre Dame 68". The New York Times. February 13, 1978. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
5. sports-reference.com 1977-78 Independent Season Summary
6. sports-reference.com 1977-78 Polls