BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: DEPAUL @ ST. JOHN'S

January 12, 2008



DePaul travels to New York to take on the St. John's Redstorm in a high noon Big East match-up. DePaul comes into the contest with a 2-1 record in the Big East after opening conference play with a three-game homestand. A loss to Georgetown was preceeded by wins over Villanova and Providence to begin conference play.

Here are the local media previews on the game:

Along for the Roller-Coaster Ride (Chicago Tribune)
Inconsistent DePaul Heads off to St. John's
Keeping Talent at Home Not Easy for St. John's, DePaul (Daily Herald)
SJU Has to Start Stormin' (NY Post)

On the season DePaul is 6-8 anf just 2-4 away from home, including 1-2 in true road contests, losing at Kansas and at Creighton by double-digits. Their lone road win was a 70-64 decision over Detroit.

In their three conference games, freshman Mac Koshwal has averaged a double-double (12 pts and 10 rebounds) and has benefited from improved consistency of their point guard play. Leading scorer on the season, Draelin Burns, has struggled a bit in conference play, averaging just 11.3 PPG while shooting a miserable 28.6% from the floor (10-35) and 9% from the arc (1-11). To win on the road, DePaul will need their veteran leader to show them the way.

Despite Burns' difficulty on offense, a few other players have picked up the slack, especially Will Walker (12 PPG in BE action) who has hit seven of 14 3-pt attempts in the three conference games. Dar Tucker is another exciting freshman in a league full of them and has showed his talents with 29 points over the last two outings.

Points could be difficult to come by as the Redstorm are a very good defensive team. Their starting line-up has very good athletic ability at the wing positions and excellent length. The Redstorm has lost a couple tough road games (at UConn and Syracuse) but had a win over an improving Cincinatti in between. The Redstorm is 7-7 on the season and have been led by Justin Burrell in conference play. The athletic freshman forward is averaging 17 PPG and nearly 8 rebounds in conference action. He shows an outstanding touch from the foul line, going 13-13 from the stripe in conference play. Anthony Mason is looking healthier and healthier each time out and he is filling up the stat sheet and contribues nearly 14 PPG in conference play.

One mystery has been the disappearance of Larry Wright from the regular rotation. Wright showed potential as a freshman and on a young team, he was being counted on to step up this season. He has averaged just 12 minutes a game in conference play, but shows he can still put some points on the board in a hurry, scoring 29 points in those 36 minutes. Eight of his nine field goals in the last three games have been from beyond the arc.

Scoring is the key for St. John's. They seem to have too many players in the rotation that do no offer much of a scoring threat, but nearly everyone can defend and rebound. If Norm Roberts can find a way to unleash the offensive talents of Wright, Rob Thomas and others while keeping up the defense, SJU becomes a very tough out, especially at home.

This game will be determines by which team makes shots. Playing at home against a team playing their first conference road game, I expect SJU to be more comfortable and that should lead to a better shooting afternoon.

NBE Blogger Prediction: St. John's 66 DePaul 60