Big East Game Thread: Marquette Golden Eagles vs DePaul Blue Demons

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

THE DATE: Saturday, February 1, 2020

THE TIME: 1pm Central

THE LOCATION: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, WI

THE TELEVISION: Fox Sports Wisconsin, or whatever local Fox Sports Regional affiliate you might have if you're lucky, with Chris Vosters and Tim Miles on the call

THE STREAMING: No idea, since FoxSportsGo.com doesn’t have the regional feeds any more.

THE RADIO: 94.5 ESPN Milwaukee, available through the TuneIn app, with Steve “The Homer” True and Tony Smith on the call

THE LIVE STATS: Sidearm Stats

THE LINE: Not yet.

THE PROJECTION: KenPom.com gives Marquette a 77% chance of victory, with a predicted score of 78-70.

THE EXCITEMENT LEVEL: KenPom.com gives this game a Thrill Score of 50.1, making it the 23rd most potentially exciting game out of the 151 games scheduled for the day. #1? Michigan State at Wisconsin.

MARQUETTE PROBABLE STARTERS

• Markus Howard (27.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.0 spg)
• Koby McEwen (10.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.1 apg)
• Sacar Anim (13.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.0 spg)
• Brendan Bailey (8.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.4 apg)
• Theo John (4.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.1 bpg)

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 PROBABLE STARTERS

• Charlie Moore (16.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 6.6 apg, 1.9 apg)
• Jalen Coleman-Lands (11.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.2 apg)
• Romeo Weems (7.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.2 spg, 1.0 bpg)
• Paul Reed (15.7 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.8 spg, 2.9 bpg)
• Jaylen Butz (10.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.2 spg)

DEPAUL LUCHA DE APUESTA NOTE: Noted DePaul walk-on Pantelis Xidias aka “That Hyperactive Dude On DePaul’s Bench” promised to shave his head if the Blue Demons did end up as “a tournament team” this season. When he made this claim, DePaul was 8-0. They have gone 5-8 since then, including a 1-7 start in Big East play.