The DePaul Blue Demons and Villanova Wildcats will take the floor Wednesday at William B. Finneran Pavilion. Tip-off from Philadelphia is at 8:30 p.m. ET. The Wildcats are 9.5-point spread favorites and the game total is 142 points.
DePaul, 9-15 SU and 11-12-1 ATS, lost to Seton Hall on Sunday. The Blue Demons are 0-5 in their past five and 3-10 in Big East competition.
Villanova, 10-13 SU and 8-15 ATS, lost to Creighton on Saturday. The Wildcats are 2-3 in their past five and 4-8 in conference play.
DePaul defeated Villanova 75-65 on Jan. 10, ending its 22-game losing streak to the Wildcats. The Blue Demons shot 45.5 percent from the field and held Villanova under 30 percent from three-point range. The Wildcats also committed 14 turnovers in the road loss.
DePaul has been unable to capitalize on the momentum it generated in its recent win over then-eighth-ranked Xavier, dropping the next five consecutive games. The Blue Demons have shown promise, but they lack consistency.
Seton Hall beat DePaul 69-64 over the weekend, as the Blue Demons committed 29 fouls and 14 turnovers. It wasn't a pretty win for the Pirates, though, as they shot 34.6 percent, including 3-of-14 from three. They also turned the ball over 13 times, and while they got to the line often, they missed 15 of 45 foul shots. DePaul shot 40.0 percent from the field in the road loss.
400 career threes and counting…#BlueGrit ???? pic.twitter.com/a4j3K3fipE
— DePaul Basketball (@DePaulHoops) February 6, 2023
The Blue Demons score 71.3 points (182nd) and shoot 42.3 percent from the field (298th), including 35.8 percent from long range (94th). They convert 74.9 percent of their free throws (52nd) and average 29.5 rebounds (304th) with a -6.1 rebounding margin. DePaul is 120th nationally in schedule-adjusted offensive efficiency and 237th in effective field goal percentage (49.4%).
Senior guard Umoja Gibson leads the Blue Demons in scoring. He averages 16.0 points, 4.9 assists, and 2.1 steals and shoots 40.5 percent from three-point range. Other players to watch include senior forward Javan Johnson (14.5 PPG and 4.6 RPG), junior forward Da'Sean Nelson (10.7 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 56.7 FG%), and senior forward Eral Penn (9.5 PPG and 7.3 RPG).
DePaul gives up 75.9 points per game (334th) and its opponents shoot 44.9 percent from the floor (276th), including 34.8 percent from behind the arc (260th). It's 181 in adjusted defensive efficiency, 91st in adjusted tempo, and 145th in assist-per-turnover ratio.
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