BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: DePaul @ Marquette

January 25, 2006

For the second time in a week Marquette (4-2) and DePaul (1-5) meet in a Big East conference tilt, this time at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. Last week, Marquette raced out to a big lead of over 20-pts in the first half and lead 49-30 at the half, before holding on to a 82-79 win at DePaul. The Blue Demons played that game without Wilson Chandler, who was suspended, and had to go small, leaving Steve Novak to go wild from the perimter with 24 pts and Dominic James continued his assault towards the Big East Freshmen of the Year award with a 29-pt outburst on the road.

For pregame stories and previews around the net, here are some of the links we have found:

The Show Goes on With Juggling Act (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
Marquette Hosts Depaul (Cracked Sidewalks)
DePaul/Marquette Preview (BlueDemonsNation.com)
Senior Novak Leads Young Marquette (AP Story)

for our brief preview and prediction, please click below and don't forget to add your prediction in the comments section!

READ REST OF PREVIEW...CLICK "Read More" BELOW


DePaul is expected to get the multi-dimensional Wilson Chandler back tonight, but he is not expected to start. How will he be accepted back by his teammates is something to watch for, as DePaul dropped two very winnable games while he was suspended, hopefully it is a learning experienced for a player with a very high upside.

Chandler was a player I believed would pressure Steve Novak on both ends of the floor with his ability to drive and shoot on offense and length and athletic ability to defend. His absence was a major blow to DePaul's hopes for winning. Tonight, the tables could be turned as Novak is the one whose status is in question as he is suffering from a high ankle sprain that has limited him in practice this week. Already down Wesley Mathews, I am not sure how much deeper Tom Crean can dig to juggle his line-up to make up for any lack of production, let alone an absence, from Novak. High ankle sprains are very delicate, just ask Taquan Dean, but every ankle injury is different. This really could be the deciding factor in this game.

DePaul should have some confidence based from the 2nd half against Marquette last week, but they could not pull out a win at Providence following it up. Of course, more issues arose as Sammy Mejia and Draelon Burns did not start the game and Wesley Green, as well as Chandler, did not play. Everyone is expected back in action tonight and the Blue Demons have to get moving if they want to be in Mew York for the Big East tournament.

Marquette has shown they are for real and have kept doing what they need to do since their stunning win against UConn to open the Big East season. They got by with a win at Seton Hall and edged Notre Dame on Novak's buzzer beater last time out and held off DePaul last weekend. At 4-2, they are making a strong case for the NCAA tournament bubble and should be a tournament team if they can continue to win games like this at home. After today, they travel to Pittsburgh on Saturday which is one of five tough road games they will have in the conference to finish out their schedule. Holding serve at home is imperative and this is one they will have to have.

With everything that each team seems to be encountering, this is a very tough game to predict. Marquette is a 7.5-pt favorite and I think that is a little too much with the question surrounding Novak and I do think both teams match-up pretty well if everyone is on the floor. I will pick the home team, but in a really close game.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Marquette 68 DePaul 64