#DontLoseToDePaul, Because Nothing Has Changed

Marquette Golden Eagles (15-6, 5-4 Big East) vs DePaul Blue Demons (13-8, 1-7 Big East)

Date: Saturday, February 1, 2020
Time: 1:00pm Central
Location: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, WI

Marquette Stats Leaders

Points: Markus Howard, 27.8 ppg
Rebounds: Brendan Bailey, 5.6 rpg
Assists: Koby McEwen & Markus Howard, 3.1 apg

Marquette Injury Note #1: Greg Elliott still appears to be dealing with an injury. No one seems to have any idea when he’ll be back, but he was apparently an active participant in shootaround on Wednesday night against Xavier before sitting that one out. He is listed as “probable” in the official MU game notes.

Marquette Injury Note #2: Head coach Steve Wojciechowski seemed dismissive of the facial injury that kept Markus Howard from finishing the game Wednesday, but it’s worth keeping tabs on since he’s, you know, the best scorer in program history and getting elbowed in the face is no joke. Howard is listed as “questionable” in the official MU game notes.

DePaul Stats Leaders

Points: Charlie Moore, 16.0 ppg
Rebounds: Paul Reed, 11.1 rpg
Assists: Charlie Moore, 6.6 apg

KenPom.com Rankings

Marquette: #29
DePaul: #67
KenPom Projection: Marquette has a 77% chance of victory, with a predicted score of 78-70.

You fools. You halfwits. You imbeciles. You loons. You naive little worms. You actually thought DePaul had a chance to be good this year. Pathetic.

It has been 13 years since this sewer water program could even claim that they weren’t dog piss in half the conference games they’ve played. Even still, you thought just because they beat a couple teams in the non-con part of the schedule who have the high distinction of “not being brain dead” that they should be rewarded with a ranking? Major writers were gleaming over 3 decent wins to prove their value of having their pulse on the national landscape by going a single day without mentioning Duke, and you suckled on the teat of their empty glands.

Nevermind that, cradled in between their victories over Iowa and Minnesota, they beat a Somehow Way Worse Boston College team by a grand total of 5 and found themselves trailing by 18 to Central Michigan at halftime at home. Disregard the hilarity of these runts following up their statement win over Texas Tech with a 5 point loss to Buffalo, in which the last time they had a greater than 50% chance to win was in the first half. Don’t even think about how their peak ranking in KenPom this year was not even in the top 50. And lastly, pay no attention to DePaul touting a bruising 5-8 record since Quirky Bench Clown Pantelis Xidias promised to shave his head if the Blue Demons didn’t make this tournament.

Nope. To Big East fans wanting desperately to see some semblance of life out of the Train Commuters, THIS DePaul team was going to be different. And you deserve the dunce cap which you now don.

DePaul is trash. They always have been trash and they always will be trash. Scraping the top 70 in KenPom isn’t an accomplishment. It’s no reason to laud or raise a banner. It just makes you On Par With Texas. Emitting less vomit than normal on a daily basis doesn’t mean I’m going to adorn you with the finest cloths and call you The King of Healthiness. This is like the Washington D.C. Metro system in 2017 when they announced that there had been fewer fires than the year before. Not “no fires,” just a smaller number of fires.

The Blue Demons could win this game. They’re two weeks removed from annihilating Butler. They apply great pressure on defense and Paul Reed might be the most well-rounded player in the conference. Doesn’t matter. Still trash.

There is no purpose to this program. None. Their only use involves dragging better teams down to a worse seed line in the rare event of a win. It doesn’t help them. They have no hope in ever making the tournament. No recruits will walk into the hallowed grounds of Wintrust Arena, watch a superior team fumble away a gifted win, then think that this is the place for them. DePaul flat out cheated to get a recruit eligible for NCAA participation, went 9-23 with said player on their team, and then watched him leave right before the start of the next season. Potential fans don’t have time to care about them because they’re too busy finding out what train route will take them to the campus where their library is. The peak of their season is when fans of teams that matter groan annoyingly at their general existence.

So, yes. This Blue Demon team has a better shot at snatching a road victory in Milwaukee than just about any of their teams since the turn of the century. A loss on Saturday would still be inexcusable, even if Markus Howard sits with his head injury. Paul Reed is the only offensive player worth paying attention to, and even then DePaul head coach Dave Leitao is doing a great favor for opposing defenses by criminally under-utilizing him. Force them out of transition opportunities, get outside shots on good perimeter passing, and don’t let them get that satisfaction of hearing you groan.

#DLTD

Marquette Last 10 Games: 6-4, with wins in four of the last five.

DePaul Last 10 Games: 3-7, with losses in their last three games, including a hilarious “led by 9 with 15 minutes left” collapse to lose by seven at Seton Hall on Wednesday night in their most recent game.

All Time Series: Marquette leads, 78-47.

Current Streak: Marquette has won seven out of the last eight games against DePaul, and are currently on a three game winning streak. If we dive a bit deeper, Marquette has won eight of the last 10 and 14 of the last 17. Marquette has won 16 of the last 17 meetings in Milwaukee, with the “Luke Fischer fouled Billy Garrett” game as the lone outlier.

Follow Along On Twitter

@AnonymousEagle - Hey, that’s us!
@MarquetteMBB - Official MU account
@DePaulHoops - Official DePaul account
@becb_sbn - our SB Nation friends that follow the whole Big East
@WeAreDePaul - 247 Sports’ DePaul site
@BenSteeleMJS - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel MU beat writer