The DePaul Blue Demons travel to the Cintas Center to take on the Xavier Musketeers. Read more for a full DePaul vs Xavier prediction and preview.
DePaul comes to Cincinnati with a pair of 10-point losses, including a recent 68-58 defeat to Marquette and a 59-49 loss to Villanova.
Against the Golden Eagles, the Blue Demons were led by C.J. Gunn with 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists. He shot 6-14 ( (42.9%) from the field and 2-8 (25%) from downtown.
Meanwhile, the Musketeers look to extend their winning streak to two after winning 91-82 against the Providence Friars. In that game, they were led by Dante Maddox Jr, who scored 26 points and 3 rebounds while shooting 7-11 (63.6%) overall, 6-9 (66.7%) from beyond the arc, and 6-6 (100%) from the line.
In their previous matchup, Xavier came out of the Wintrust Arena with a win. Zach Freemantle led the team to a 77-63 victory with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds.
General Information:Â
Teams:Â DePaul (11-14, 1-12) and Xavier (15-10, 7-7)
Tip: 11 a.m. CST
Watch:Â FS1
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The Musketeers come home after winning one game in their recent two-game road stretch. Besides their victory over Providence, they lost to Villanova 68-80.
The team has won three of its last five games, including wins against Georgetown (74-69) and UConn (76-72).
Of those last five matchups, only the loss to the Wildcats saw Xavier come out of those respective matches with the final score being a less than 10-point difference. This Musketeers squad has fought well against some of the better teams in the conference and has kept most of their games close since conference play began.
That game against Villanova is their only conference loss this season where the final score exceeded a 10-point difference.
The Musketeers squad is still led by a trio of Freemantle (16.9 points), Ryan Conwell (15.6 points) and Dailyn Swain (10.2 points). Freemantle also leads the team in boards (7.1 rebounds) and blocks (0.9 blocks).
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The Blue Demons have only won one game out of their last five after beating Seton Hall 74-57. These past few games against Marquette and Villanova have been tough for the team.
The loss of Conor Enright still looms for this squad as the team’s offense struggles to find momentum. DePaul has been hit with multiple injuries, including a recent wrist/hand injury to N.J. Benson.
During yesterday’s media availability, head coach Chris Holtmann stated that he didn’t know if Benson would be available for the upcoming game against Xavier.
Troy D’Amico has been sidelined with a foot injury for the last couple of games. The last time he played was against Seton Hall and hasn’t been seen since.
As a result, the team will see more from David Thomas, Theo Pierre Justin, and Chris Riddle to rebound from the injury issues. There aren’t many positives from such injury plagues, but Holtmann said yesterday that one of the bright sides is the chance to see some of the other players grow with such an opportunity.
“You don’t look at too many bright sides when you’re when your team’s injured, like our team is,” Holtmann said during media availability. “But if there is a bright side, it’s the fact that you do get a chance to see some youth and some other players that can grow. And you know, we’ve seen David Thomas have really effective minutes for us, and those guys work all year for that opportunity.”
DePaul vs Xavier prediction: Blue Demons by 6
Another close matchup for DePaul. Despite the loss of Enright and a potential loss in Benson, which is still to be determined if he is out for tomorrow’s game, the Blue Demons have remained competitive throughout this stretch. However, there have been times when the team looks lost.
Xavier is one of the more underrated teams in the conference, with most of their conference matchups remaining too close for comfort. This will be a tough matchup for all.