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Where: Wintrust Arena, Chicago, IL
Time: 9 p.m. ET
TV: FS1
Radio: 670 The Score
Watch Online: Fox Sports Go
Line: DePaul -24
The 0-8 Alabama A&M Bulldogs will try to end the four-game win streak of the DePaul Blue Demons when they come to Chicago.
DePaul (5-4) is in unfamiliar territory as they find themselves with a winning record for the first time since December 28th, 2016.
This Kenpom matchup of #348 Alabama A&M and #118 DePaul should be one for the ages.
What to Watch For
Impact of Injuries
DePaul past the first test of their loss of Devin Gage with their latest win over crosstown opponent the UIC Flames.
The biggest impact of the injury was apparent when Eli Cain and Max Strus played 39 of the potential 40 minutes in last Saturday.
Starting center Marin Maric also came out of the UIC game with a leg injury. Maric returned to the bench for the second half however, his status is still questionable for tonight.
It would be great to see DePaul get more production from their bench before an inevitable drop from heavy minutes hurt the Blue Demons when Big East Conference play begins.
Height Matchup
This game will be decided by it’s head to head match ups. Alabama A&M leading scorers, like DePaul, are it’s 2 and 3 position with sophomore De'Ederick Petty and junior Arthur Johnson, respectively. Both players are averaging over 12 points a game and are the major contributors to the Bulldogs anemic offense.
They will be up against junior Eli Cain and senior Max Strus who are averaging 13 and 15 points per game, respectively. The Blue Demons certainly will have a height advantage as both players are 6’6” compared to Petty’s 6’ and Johnson’s 6’2.
With Cain playing more of a point guard role this advantage is even more against 5’11” freshman Amari Goulbourne.
As mentioned before the largest impact of this game will be how fresh DePaul will be just two days after playing their last game.
Prediction
I feel that DePaul will win this game by a large margin if they hold the Alabama A&M from shooting their impressive 37.6% from three. If Maric can go for the Blue Demons I think it will be a thumping with a DePaul defense that ranks near the top 100 of defensive efficiency. If you were going to gamble on this game it might be time to reevaluate your priorities or buy some Bitcoin with the money at the very least.