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It finally happened. The DePaul Blue Demons got their first win in Big East play this season when they defeated the St. John’s Red Storm 91-74. There is just one slight problem: that was two weeks ago.
Since then, DePaul has seemingly shot right back down to Earth, losing to Providence and Marquette. It was an especially bad loss against the Golden Eagles in the Blue Demons’ most recent game. They were outplayed the entire game, and when their offense needed to respond the most, they couldn’t muster up anything. The 70-52 beatdown was the Blue Demons’ fifth loss in conference play and kept them in second to last place in the Big East standings. They now sit with an official record of 8-10 and are in desperate need of a win.
Their opponents will be the Butler Bulldogs. They sit two spots ahead of the Blue Demons with a record of 13-7, but have mediocre conference record (3-4). The campaign in conference play began in a spectacular fashion with an overtime win against Georgetown and then a huge upset over Villanova. But then they went a three-game losing streak. They finally snapped it against Marquette, but in their most recent game, they lost 70-60 to Providence after giving up 45 points in the second half to the Friars. It was a very poor defensive performance by the Bulldogs, and they got punished for it. But they will have a chance to regain some momentum against DePaul.
How to watch, listen, or stream
Game Time: 2 PM ET
TV: Fox Sports 1
Radio: WSCR 670 AM (DePaul) || 107.5 FM & 1070 AM (Butler)
Stream: Fox Sports Go (If available)
Gamblin’ Odds
Odds: Butler enters this game as a 4.5 point favorite (via Oddshark.com)
Record ATS: DePaul (8-9-1) || Butler (9-10)
O/U: N/A
Last Time They Met
Butler leads the series 8-6 in the 15th meeting between the two schools. Last season Butler won both meetings including an overtime winner in Hinkle Fieldhouse
3 Things to Watch
Watch out for Kelan Martin
Butler’s offense is beginning to click more and more each games. They currently have an Adjusted Offensive Efficiency of 114.6, good for 28th in the country (via KenPom). A lot of the success is because of their star, Kelan Martin. He has his moments, but this season he has seemed to picked up the pace, averaging 19.5 points per game, which is the highest on the team. Martin is a lethal scorer, and if DePaul is not careful, he will light them up.
Road Issues
Going on the road has not been good for the Butler Bulldogs. They have a road record of 1-3 in conference play and if they want to make some noise in the Big East, this needs to improve. This is a big chance for them to make the road record a little bit better in Wintrust Arena.
A good cause
This game is going to be a “Pink Game”. According to the DePaul media guide, the first 5,000 people will be given a pink t-shirt in an attempt to to raise awareness for breast cancer and research for it.