The DePaul Blue Demons travel to Washington, DC to take on long time opponent, Georgetown. This is the 39th time that these clubs have played since 1950. The two squads have split in each of the past 3 seasons. In the last meeting, DePaul murdered the Hoyas 101-69 as Max Strus went for 30, Eli Cain had 24, and Paul Reed scored 19. The 32 point margin was DePaul’s largest conference victory since the current alignment of the Big East. The Blue Demons arrive in DC after a pathetic 16 damn point first half performance against Xavier on Tuesday.
Georgetown enters the game with a 3-7 record in conference games with two victories over St. John’s and and upset victory over Creighton. The Hoyas lost to Seton Hall on Wednesday.
The Setup
DePaul visits Georgetown Saturday, February 8th, at 11AM Central at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. The game will be on the UTOO, Channel 230 on Comcast in Chicago and on Radio 670AM.
Tale of the Tape
In the clear advantage department of the tale of the tape, it is a push. Both teams have 4 Clear advantages. Clear tape winners are those with at least a 100 point difference in the chart. Although in overall category wins, G’town wins 9-8.
Winner of the Tape: Push
So what can we derive from the Tale of the Tape. The Hoyas shoot the 3 better than DePaul, but the Demons defend the 3 much better. The Hoyas are an excellent free-throw shooting squad. Georgetown is a little loose with the ball as well. Since DePaul is an excellent team at stealing the ball, this might lead to some easier transition points.
In conference only statistics, Georgetown’s opponents have the highest effective FG% along with the highest percentage beyond the arc, shooting 37%. They do not allow a large free-throw rate, which means DePaul should be shooting less free-throws. One interesting thing is that the Hoyas do not get blocked very often, and they are going up against the team that blocks the second most shots in the Big East.
Georgetown shoots a ton of long twos. Almost 40% of their shots are from mid-range. They shoot them well. DePaul shoots more 3s than the Hoyas, which is very odd. Georgetown opponents shoot 35.5% from 3, which is pretty awful, and take the exact same percentage of 3 point shots as DePaul opponents.
Who Can Hurt the Demons?
Omer Yurtseven
The 7-0 Senior Center who transferred from NC State has the highest Win shares for the Hoyas, meaning he is the biggest all around contributor when considering both sides of the court. His stats look a lot like Paul Reeds stats. He is 13th in the country in Offensive Rebound percentage and 77th in the country on Defensive Rebound percentage. He will be a handful for sure. Shoots 75% from free-throw land. He generally plays the most minutes for the team.
Mac McClung
The 6-2 Sophomore Shooting Guard has the highest usage for the Hoyas. He shoots 32% from 3 and 80% from the free-throw line. McClung is questionable for the game.
The Other Guys
The Hoyas only play 7 guys consistently. All are positive offensive contributors. Their top six are better than DePaul’s top six.
Jagan Mosely shoots 43.6% from 3 and 80% from the line. Jahvon Blair shoots 35% from 3 and 86.5% from the line. Jamorko Pickett shoots 34.5% from 3 and 75.6% from the line. All positive offensive players.
The Hoyas’ issue is defense.
What is Going to Happen on Saturday?
I have given up on the guessing who is going to win. The Hoyas are favored by 5. Kenpom gives G’town as 68% chance to win. These teams should match up well, but DePaul needs to play a steady game and be ahead in the last ten minutes to win. There are too many decent free-throw shooters on the Hoyas.
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