BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Connecticut @ DePaul

January 31, 2007


If ther season ended today Connecticut would find themselves at home for the Big East Toournament. Luckily for the scalpers in New York City and for the Huskies, the season does not end today and UConn has nine games left to pull themselves out of the bottom four.

One of the teams that they are looking to catch is the DePaul Blue Demons, who sit just ahead of UConn at 3-5 in the conference. Much like the Jim Calhoun, this is not the position that Jerry Wainwright expected to be in at the halfway mark of the Big East season. DePaul was picked by many, including myself, to be a team that could surprise with their talent and experience, instead, they continue to be maddening inconsistent and have not looked like they improved in any way from last season much at all.

Here are links to the pregame stories and previews found on the internet this morning:

UConn Men's Scouting Report (Norwich Times)
UConn Men an Image of a Decade Ago (Bristol Press)
Huskies Look to Avoid 5-Game Losing Streak (Hartford Courant)
Calhoun, Huskies Demand Effort (Danbury News Times)
No Guarantee Games Anymore for UConn (New Haven Register)
Win - or Loss - Could Put Huskies in Unique Position in Big East (Norwich Bulletin)
Heat is on for Pair in Big East (Connecticut Post)
Depaul's Problems Run Gamut (Daily Herald)
UConn in Same Boat at DePaul This Time (Chicago Sun-Times)


Click below for our brief preview and prediction on this game and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section.

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


Something has to give tonight as Connecticut, with a four game losing strak, travels to Chicago to meet DePaul, who has a three game losing streak. Both teams have a laundry list of issues that have led to very inconsistent play this season. With Connecticut, a lot of the inconsistency was expected for a team with 8 freshmen and 5 sophomores, but their inability to put together any type of complete game has kept them from winning anything of substance. DePaul is not as inexperienced or young and their inconsistency has led them to some impressive wins, but downright bad losses.

Jom Calhoun no longer wants to hear about the UConn youth as the reason they are losing. They are 20 games into the season and they need to start playing like Big East basketball players, but he is not abondoning his players. He needs to find consistent backcourt play. AJ Price has struggled in running the team and making decisions while Jerome Dyson has been in a shooting slump since Big East play began. Price and Dyson have also been banged up for much of conference play, which has not helped. Doug Wiggins has been able to provide a spark, but seems to be more comfortable in spurts off the bench. Craig Austrie, their best shooter, has seemed to see his action cut drastically.

In the middle, hasheem Thabeet is a presence blocking shots, but he has been manhandled for the most part in Big East play on the baords and offensively. They need his rebounding and him to be a threat offensively. Jeff Adrien continues to bang away inside, but he can get bottled up as the Huskies continue to brick their way from the outside. Calhoun is looking for more consistency on the wing from Stanley Robinson and Marcus Johnson, especially from the offensive side of things.

DePaul has used 11 different players in the starting line-up with only senior Sammy Mejia starting every game. DePaul continues to get inconsistent play from the lead guard spot. Jabari Currie seems to be back as the flavor of the week at the position with Will Walker's time being drastically in the last three games and Cliff Clinkscales continues to be used as a last option among the three. Mejia is the player opponents game plan to stop and he finds little room to get free. Draelon Burns provides an offensive spark, but the Blue Demons need to find some sort of offense from Karron Clark or their post players in some form of consistent matter. Wilson Chandler is the other constant, but he has a total of 4 rebounds in their last two games. He needs to be more of a factor on both ends of the floor.

Tonight is a tough call. One thing is for certain, when Connecticut comes to down, they still have a target on their backs. Everyone knows the reputation of their program, coach and even the much-hyped young players, but this is a new role for their players, being the hunted at this level, and they are having trouble stopping runs once the momentum sides with their opponent. The oddsmakers have made DePaul a 4-pt favorite at home and the Pomeroy Computer has DePaul as a 1-pt winner. The Blue Demons are athletic enough to stick with Connecticut and should have just a little more shooting ability to get the win at home, but it could be a struggle for both.

NBE Blogger Prediction: DePaul 63 Connecticut 57