DePaul Hosts Archrivals Marquette: Preview II

DePaul Hosts Their Neighbors to the North Who are Going to Over-Populate Winstrust

The Setup

DePaul plays the Marquette Golden Eagles on Saturday, 2/24/2018 at 11:00 am Central at the Wintrust Arena in the South Loop of Chicago, in front of thousands of cheese eaters and a handful of Blue Demon Fans.  It will be carried on UToo (Channel 230 on Comcast) and on the Score (Radio 670).

Marquette comes into the game with 16 wins and 11 losses overall, with a 7-8 record in Big East games after beating St. John’s in a must win game.  This will also be a must win game for the Golden Eagles.

DePaul is coming  off their worst loss of the year  by losing by 31 at Villanova.

This might be the last chance to win at the Wintrust Arena, unless the Demons upset Xavier at the final game.  If neither game ends in victory, for the entire off season, DePaul Nation will have to call the unfortunate arena Losetrust Arena.

Gambling Corner

Vegas currently favors Marquette by 2.  Kenpom.com favors Marquette by 2.

Vegas has set the odds that Marquette will have more fans at the game than DePaul fans at -1700.

Recent History

DePaul forgot how to shoot the basketball on MLK Day in Milwaukee.  It was an outrageously awful game.   I pity any Demon fan who traveled to Milwaukee in the awful snow to see the God-awful performance.  One player, Brandon Cyrus, had a positive offensive rating for the game.  The next best ratings were 78s put up by Max Strus, Paul Reed, and Peter Ryckbosch.

Marquette swept DePaul last season.  The prior 2 years the teams split.   Since the forming of the new Big East in 2014, the Golden Eagles hold a 7-2 series lead.

Fun Facts about Marquette

Marquette’s first game was in 1917.  The Golden Eagles/Warriors have been to 16 Sweet 16s.

This will be the 122nd meeting between DePaul and Marquette.  Old, consistent rivals.

Here is a great link, written in 2010 by a Marquette fan explaining the DePaul-Marquette rivalry.  I encourage you to read it.  The gist of it is that Marquette fans can’t decide whether DePaul is a rival or not, the pretentious pricks.  In 2010, they have the audacity of thinking Notre Dame is a bigger rival.  Newsflash, Marquette fans, you don’t play Notre Dame every year.  Wisconsin-Madison is probably a bigger rival for sure for Marquette, but hey guys, we have been playing you forever.  Yeah, yeah, Marquette have owned us for a while, but the Demons killed the Warriors in the 1980s, so take that!

Religious affiliation:  Jesuit

 The Current Flavor of Golden Eagles

These guys are an offensive machine.  The sport the 12th most efficient offense in D1 basketball.  The Golden Eagles can really, really shoot.  They shoot 40.8% from 3pt. land which is 10th best in the land, and they shoot 79.7% from the free throw line, which is 3rd best in the country.  As could be expected, they do not get to the line that often, because they are comfortable chucking it from the cheap seats.  Of course, their defense is slightly above average.  They score and get scored on.  So, I am telling you, we have a chance.

Who Should Scare the Blue out of Us?

If He Plays:  Markus Howard

Markus Howard, 5′ 11″ Sophomore.  Went to Findlay Prep High School, in Henderson, NV just like DePaul’s Justin Roberts.  Howard scored 52 against Providence on 11-19 shooting from 3 point land.  He followed that up with 37 against Villanova.  Whoever guards him is going to have their hands full.  Last year, he only shot 54.7% from 3pt. range, which is absolutely amazing.  He was only 1 of 6 freshmen in history who shot better than 50% with at least 100 attempt from 3 pt. land.

He hurt his back in the Creighton game last week, and he may be back for this game, because teams are always at full power when they play DePaul.

Andrew Rowsey and Sam Hauser:

Rowsey shoots roughtly 40% from 3 point land, while Hauser shoots 50%.  Not good times for the Demons.

Both shoot over 86% from the free-throw line.

How does DePaul Matchup?

Let’s go to the tail of the tape.

Offense

The Golden Eagles shoot the 3 real well (40.8%).  The Demons do not (32.1%).  Neither teams gets to the line much, so hopefully the zebras let the kids play.  DePaul (228th) turns the ball over much more than Marquette (54th best).  DePaul rebounds on the offensive end better (58th best) versus the Brew Boys (201st).  However, the Milwaukee team shoots better from 2 point area and the free throw line, it’s not even close.

This is the 12th most efficient team going against the 153rd most efficient team.

Advantage:  Huge Advantage Marquette

Defense

Marquette is the 197th best at stopping 3 pointers, while the Demons are still crap (297th).  Conversely, DePaul is 105th at stopping the 2 point shot, while the G’ Eagles give up a lay up line (315th).  Holy crap they are terrible inside.  Marquette has allowed opponents to shoot 54.4% from inside the arc.  That is dumpster fire awful.  Marquette blocks some shots and steals, but jeez, look at that horrific inside defense.

Advantage:  DePaul  (until you realize that 3 point shots are worth more than 2 point shots.)

In Conclusion

Marquette is an elite offense.  Of the teams that the Demons have faced this year, only Villanova and Xavier are more efficient.    DePaul’s 3pt. defense is god-awful, and Marquette’s 3 pt. shooting is incredible.  I don’t feel good about this one.  Can DePaul’s bigger guards keep up with Marquette’s tiny quick assassins?  Can Maric, Reed, and McCallum deal with Marquette’s bigs?

I’m guessing the Brew Boys take it by 5, but maybe DePaul makes a ton of layups, and upset the Cheese eaters allowing us to call it Wintrust Arena.

Either way, there are going to be more Marquette fans at the game than DePaul fans.  You should find a way to bet on it.