The proof that a new day has dawned at DePaul is right there, in startling black and white, on the NCAA web site:

Field-Goal Percent Defense
(Through Games 12/09/02)
1. DePaul

	“	Rome wasn't built in a day. There were some bad habits, or some lack of understanding of what defense is all about. But they want to be coached and want something to buy into. We're trying to give them that. ”
		— Dave Leitao, first-year DePaul head coach

And then there's this:

Scoring Defense
1. Butler
2. DePaul

That's right. A team that rarely bent its knees under Pat Kennedy, much less took a charge or got on the floor for the occasional loose ball, began the week as college basketball's lords of the lockup.

It would be no less shocking to see Bob Knight coaching in a pastel turtleneck than it is to see the Blue Demons leading the nation in defense.

"We try to sell defense," said new coach Dave Leitao, a longtime assistant and former player under Jim Calhoun. "Because any team that wants to do something has to have that."

But you have to wonder: Was it a tough sell? In going 21-37 the previous two years -- including a gruesome 6-26 in Conference USA -- this didn't look like a group that had what you would call a defensive mentality.

In league games last year, DePaul ranked last in the 14-team conference in field-goal percentage defense (47.3) and 13th in scoring defense (79.6 points per game). Teaching this team to stop someone must have been like teaching calculus to kindergarteners.

"Rome wasn't built in a day," Leitao said with a chuckle. "There were some bad habits, or some lack of understanding of what defense is all about.

"But they want to be coached and want something to buy into. We're trying to give them that."

So far DePaul appears to have bought in with every spare nickel. The Blue Demons are 4-0 for the first time since 1990, and although their sparkling defensive statistics rose slightly after a 73-65 victory over Ohio Tuesday, they're still strong: opponents are shooting 35.3 percent and scoring 53.5 points per game.

After playing moderate competition, the Demons are a surprising No. 27 in the Sagarin Ratings -- highest of any Conference USA team, believe it or not. But the reality check arrives Saturday, when they travel to play Sagarin's No. 3 team, red-hot old-time rival Notre Dame.

"Right now it looks like this may be the best team we play all year," Leitao said.

The Catholic schools met last year for the first time since 1994, in a game that accelerated the push for Kennedy's forced departure. DePaul came in 2-1 after a decent showing in the Preseason NIT but was routed by 27 points, in front of just 6,860 fans at the United Center.

That turned out to be the Demons' highest home attendance of the year. At one point there was a fan-orchestrated walkout to communicate unhappiness with Kennedy, who recruited an endless stream of Chicago Public School talent that invariably underachieved, misbehaved and/or left school early for the NBA.

DePaul lurched through the season, winning just two league games -- both against East Carolina -- and missed the tournament. The conference tournament. C-USA only takes the top 12.

Welcome to rock bottom for a proud program.

Welcome, Dave Leitao.

"They needed something to make them feel confident after what they've been through," Leitao said. "I think the start has done that. When we got here the attitude was jilted, not confident. When you go 9-19, plus all the other things involved, it shakes your individual confidence.

"As a player, if I'm losing all the time and losing confidence, I may focus my goals on survival, instead of winning."

So far the focus has been on winning this year, with results to back it up. Amazing what effort and direction can do, when mixed productively with leftover talent and a key recruit.

The team's offensive star has been junior-college transfer Delonte Holland. He's averaging 19.5 points per game and shooting 64.4 percent from the field and a crazy 83.3 percent from 3-point range.

Riding shotgun with Holland are seniors Sam Hoskin (15.5 points, 8 rebounds) in the middle and Joe Tulley (12.5 ppg) on the perimeter, plus sophomore Drake Diener at point guard (a team-high 4.2 assists per). DePaul's margin for error has been wide enough so far that it has survived a woeful offensive start from power forward Andre Brown. The preseason all-league selection has made just five of 24 shots in three games and is averaging 6 points per game.

"We've got some guys that can play offense," Leitao said. "We can put five guys out there who can score. We can be all right there. But the defense has given the guys something to grab onto."

DePaul probably isn't ready to reassert itself nationally. But the statistics show in black and white that the Blue Demons might be through rolling over for the rest of Conference USA.

Games of the Week

Michigan State at Kentucky Saturday These two met in 1999 and 2000, and both games went down to the final buzzer. The Wildcats won by two in Lexington in '99, and the Spartans took the rematch by one in East Lansing. Kentucky has played well of late, and should have the big bodies to handle Michigan State's muscle. The key could be the point-guard play of two guys who aren't natural point guards: Gerald Fitch and Chris Hill. Mississippi State vs. Xavier in New York, Saturday Mario Austin comes back just in time to bang heads with David West, in a matchup that should intrigue NBA scouts. (You think Austin might be coming out next spring, after his enjoyable dealings with the NCAA?) Memphis at Missouri Saturday Time for Earl Barron to rediscover his game in time to do battle with Mizzou big man Arthur Johnson. This is the kind of marquee opponent Memphis couldn't beat last year, relegating it to the NIT. Wisconsin at Marquette Saturday The team that burst the Golden Eagles' bubble last year was the in-state rival Badgers, ending Marquette's 10-0 run to start the season and triggering a 1-3 stretch. Getting the upper hand and keeping it in this rivalry can only help with in-state recruiting.

Climbing Out of Dawg House
A 3-3 start was hardly what the Bulldogs or their fans envisioned. (OK, the fans haven't noticed yet. They're still too caught up in football at the moment.) But the outlook may be getting better for a team that began the season in every top 25.

The Dawgs scratched out two road wins last week, beating Colorado by a single point on a flukish 3-pointer by post man Jonas Hayes and then taking California, 78-73, in overtime in Anaheim at the John Wooden Classic. While two wins by a total of six points is hardly a sign that Georgia is ready to take the Southeastern Conference by storm, it certainly beats the alternative, which was a 1-5 start.

A struggling team needed -- and got -- a break or two.

Granted a little bit of momentum, and with center Steve Thomas scheduled make a badly needed return from academic ineligibility Dec. 18 against South Alabama, Georgia might be ready for a run. (But Thomas won't be back in time to take on rugged Ronny Turiaf and Gonzaga Sunday.)

"I think the tide's turning," Jarvis Hayes told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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