Coming off a long awaited win against Georgetown, DePaul travels to Cincinnati to seek revenge against the Xavier Musketeers. On February 4th, the Musketeers lost their minds and made eight first half 3 pointers, including 7 of their first 10 shots, roaring to a 19 point lead. Funny enough, the X-Men then went 1-15 from 3 the rest of the game. The Blue Demons put up a pathetic 16 points in the first half for their worst offensive showing of the year. The Demons went the final 8:22 of the first half without scoring a single, damn point.
A late rally, and I mean really, really late, made the final score a respectable 8 point loss. DePaul scored 23 points in the last 4:15 seconds of the 2nd half, totaling seven more than they scored in the entire first half.
The Setup
DePaul travels to the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio on February 25th to play Xavier at 6PM Central. The game will be on CBSSN, Channel 232 on Comcast in Chicago and on Radio 670AM.
Tale of the Tape
In a huge upset, DePaul wins the Tale of the Tape 5 to 4. Clear tape winners are those with at least a 100 point difference in the chart.
Winner of the Tape: DePaul
So what can we derive from the Tale of the Tape. Xavier and DePaul are scarily similar. Both teams are terrible at 3 point shooting and Free-throw shooting. The Musketeers are an incredibly defensive team, which we all saw in the first encounter.
I think that DePaul should consider pressing Xavier, because they are very loose with the ball. That is how the Blue Demons made their furious run at the end of the last game. Paul Reed had 7 steals during the mad rush at the end of the game. I doubt that the X-men will shoot as well from 3-point land as they did in the first half of the last game, but you never know. For the game, Xavier only shot 32.3% from beyond the arc.
Positive Performances from the Georgetown Game
For the first time in a long time, Dave Leitao shortened his bench, and the Demons won! Oscar Lopez Jr. played 14 minutes and dished 3 assists and only 1 turnover. Romeo Weems had a career high 19 points including 4 3-pointers.
Who Can Hurt the Demons?
Naji Marshall
The 6-7 Junior swing man plays the most minutes and takes the majority of the shots.
Tyrique Jones
The 6-9 Senior Center is tied for the highest usage rate with Marshall. He is a rebounding machine. On the defensive end, he rebounds at a slightly better rate than Paul Reed, 46th best in the country. On the offensive side he rebounds at an incredible 17.2% rate which is 7th best in the country. This will be a test of Reed and Butz. I am sure the NBA scouts will be on hand to see how these guys match up. Jones dominated the boards in the 1st game with 8 offensive rebounds and 10 defensive boards.
The Shooters
Point Guard Paul Scruggs shoots 35% from 3. He shoots well on long 2s as well.
Zach Freemantle, 6-9 Freshman, backup Center and Strong Forward. He is an all-around quality shooter. He has the second highest offensive rating on the team.
Kyky Tandy, 6-2 shooting guard. 35% from 3. He only plays 31% of the minutes, but when he is on the floor he is looking for 3s.
What is Going to Happen on Tuesday?
Most likely it will be an ugly game. Both of these teams hurt the eyes on the offensive side.
