BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Seton Hall @ DePaul

February 25, 2006


It is a homecoming game for Seton Hall senior Kelly Whitney as Whitney and the Pirates look to solidify their footing in terms of a NCAA Tournament bid. After losing three of their last four, including a devastating 58-47 loss to a very short-handed St. John's team, the Pirates have some work to do.

DePaul might have had the final nail in their coffin pounded in by Louisville on Wednesday night as the Blue Demons fell to 3-10 in conference play and two games out of the mix for the final conference tournament spot. It has been a disappointing season for Jerry Wainwright's crew, it will show a lot about the character of their team and the handle the coaching staff has on them with their effort on Saturday.


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DePaul certainly has talent. The trio of Sammy Mejia, Karron Clarke and Wilson Chandler has the potential to be a dangerous group in the Big East. However, finding all three of them on top of their games at the same time has been a very rare occurrence in Big East play. Draelon Burns, Jabari Currie and Marlon Brumfield are also solid contributors and Burns has had a solid season. The inconsistent availability of wesley Green has not helped the cause for DePaul, either.

At 6-3 and with a non-conference road win against North Carolina St, the Seton Hall Pirates and embattled coach Louis Orr was the talk of the country. They moved to 7-4 in the conference after knocking off West Virginia, but a pair of 11-pt losses to Notre Dame and St John's has brough the Pirates back to earth with a rather large thud. They will need to beat DePaul to put them back in the NCAA Tournament focus, any road win is tough, but the Pirates really need this one. Donald Copeland and Kelly Whitney need to have good offensive games and defensive-ace Stanley Gaines must do the job on DePaul's Mejia.

Seton Hall definitely has something left to play for. DePaul, other than being a spoiler, does not. It is a tough call as to which DePaul team will show up, but the one thing is for certain, Seton Hall needs to bring their defensive effort and not go into a scoring drought.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Seton Hall 60 DePaul 59

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Villanova @ DePaul

February 11, 2006


DePaul entertains Villanova on Saturday afternoon and the Blue Demons hopes for joining the Big East party next month in New York Sity was dealt another serious blow when they dropeed a 61-60 decision to Providence, at home, on Tuesday night. The Blie Demons find themselves at 2-8 in the conference and are staring at a pretty challenging slate to finish off conference play.

Villanova went out of the conference this week to claim the Big 5 crown with a 2nd half comeback win over rival St. Joseph's. The Wildcats continue to win in the conference, but things have been tough, as they have challeneged in each of their last four conference games, winning all by between 2 and 6 points. So, close games have been the norm for Villanova of late.

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If there was a good time to catch Villanova on your home court, it is probably this Saturday. coming off the normal emotional draining game with St. Joseph's and knowing they have a Big Monday date with Connecticut on Monday night, this is probably the definition of a sandwich game.

Can DePaul be the team to take advantage of it and steal one? Well, probably not with the way the Blue Demons have been playing of late. The DePaul offense has struggled of late, scoring just 47 and 44 points in losses to Marquette (road) and Georgetown (home) and managed just 20 2nd half points against Providence in their latest loss. Facing the ball pressure of Villanova is probably not a good remedy for what is ailing the Blue Demons as ballhandling and decision making with the ball has not been a strong point. I keep waiting for DePaul to regroup and show some life down the stretch, but they are running out of time.

The 4-guard craze of Villanova had an off-night against St Joe's with Mike Nardi out sick, but Kyle Lowry picked up the slack with a 25-pt performance that reminded us all how talented the Villanova "4th" guard is. Nardi could be back for this one and Allan Ray and Randy Foye are likely to find the DePaul match-up to their liking. DePaul does not have much of an inside threat offensively and are susceptible to the Villanova on-the-ball pressure that they will almost certainly put to good use.

It might be only natural for the Wildcats to look past DePaul a little bit. However, the offensive struggles that continue for DePaul do not give me much hope the Blue Demons can take advantage of any potential let down.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Villanova 64 DePaul 52

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: DePaul @ South Florida

February 3, 2006


A pair of Conference-USA foes reunite tonight in the Sun Dome in Tampa as a pair of bottom-feeders in the Big East Conference. It has not been the debut that Jerry Wainwright had hoped for his DePaul Blue Demons who have lost six straight in the Big East and find themselves at 1-7 in the conference and 9-11 overall.

The only school they are looking down at in the conference standings are the Bulls of South Florida. The Bulls have been decimated by injuries and other personnel issues and have been down to as little as 5 scholarship players at times, which has contributed to their string of nine straight losses and an 0-7 mark in the Big East.

South Florida has played some of their opponents tough, losing by just 4 to WVU and by 3 to Villanova at home and losing in OT at SHU as well as by 6 at SU and 3 at Georgetown. So, they have had some chances, but lack of depth and ball-handling has stripped them of chances to win down the stretch.

Neither team shoots the ball exceptionally well, but DePaul is once again horrid from beyond the 3-pt arc at less than 30%. The Blue Demons do shoot fouls very well and with their lack of depth, the Bulls tend to put people at the line a lot. DePaul has had their share of injury and personnel issues, but coming together on a trip to earn a much needed win is a must.

The chance at a win and the motivation of avoiding being the first victim of the Bulls should rally DePaul. I really do not see any advantage the Bulls might have over the Blue Demons, except for effort and not giving up. DePaul has not looked good, scoring just 91 pts total, in their last two losses. Points will probably be at a premium tonight, but I think DePaul gets just enough offense and they do have some successful experience on the road.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

DePaul 60 South Florida 56

South Florida enters the game as a slight favorite.

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