St Louis at DePaul (-4) - Game 737-738 - 11:00am Pacific

The Blue Demons have won 8 of their last 9 conference games and are currently on a five game win streak but still seem to be flying under the national radar.  They have endured a midseason injury to forward Andre Brown (2nd on team in scoring, 1st in rebounding) that caused him to miss 9 games.  He since has returned to play in last five and has played superbly averaging 16.2ppg and 9.4rpg while shooting 75% from the field during the span.  DePaul has not lost since his return.  Brown's injury opened the door for 6-6 freshman guard Sammy Mejia (12 assists in recent win over Marquette) who started to see increased playing time.  Mejia is one of the brightest young stars in the league averaging 9.9ppg, 4.3apg, and 4.7rpg in last 14 games.  Senior Delonte Holland (17.4ppg) is having a breakout season.    

 

Saint Louis had lost four straight before narrow wins over Charlotte and Marquette this past week.  They are 1-4 in C-USA road games (lone win coming at TCU) and 1-4 vs C-USA's top six teams (lone win by 1 point at home vs Charlotte).  Billiken center Tom Frericks (4th in scoring at 8.8ppg, first in rebounding at 6.4rpg) injured a shoulder Wednesday in Marquette game and is listed as doubtful.

 

The Blue Demons rallied from a 21 point first half deficit and 12 point half-time deficit to win at St Louis 10 days ago.  They dominated the boards with a 36-18 advantage and should do so again with SLU leading rebounder Frericks (11 points, 5 rebounds in first meeting) unlikely to play.  SLU shot 12-of-18 (.667) from 3-point range in the loss.  It is unlikely they will convert at that high of a percentage again today.  DePaul's only conference loss at home came in their conference opener vs Charlotte by a narrow 5 point margin.  They played that day without Andre Brown and 49ers guard Demon Brown erupted for 34 points (8 3-pointers).  SLU played a hard fought game Wednesday night, DePaul has had a full week to prepare for this.  Blue Demons need every win possible to reach NCAA tournament and I look for them to take care of business today.

 

DePaul  1 UNIT