There have been debates about who is the worst team in the Big East between Georgetown and DePaul. This game is Chicago will settle it.
TV schedule: Tuesday, Jan. 2, 9:00 p.m. ET. FS1
Arena: Winstrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois
After a non-conference schedule that was filled with teams from the worst conferences in D-1 basketball, all eyes were on Georgetown’s 10-3 (0-2) first conference game against Butler. After leading by nearly 20 points, the Hoyas allowed the Bulldogs to come back and tie it, before ultimately winning in double overtime.
The other game Patrick Ewing’s team played was at Marquette, a 74-65 loss. We do know a couple of things after this opening weekend for the Hoyas, but the most important is that the team is better than expected, as Jessie Govan is as good as his numbers showed, getting double-doubles in each of his Big East games.
They take on another team projected to finish at the bottom, the DePaul Blue Demons 7-7 (0-2). This team also lost their first two games of league action; though, in fairness to them, they came against arguably the top two teams in Xavier and top-ranked Villanova.
What makes the road loss to the Musketeers painful is that the Blue Demons had a double-digit second-half lead, thanks mainly to newcomer Max Strus, who had 33 in the game. He’s one of the top scorers in the conference, averaging 18.6 ppg. Other key players for Dave Leitao’s team includes Tre’Darius McCallum, Eli Cain, and Marin Maric, all scoring at least 10+ a night.
For Georgetown, Marcus Derrickson combines with Govan to make a formidable frontcourt, while Jonathan Mulmore is the ball distributor of the team, dishing out 4.2 apg.
Next: Top 50 players from the legendary Big East 2010-11 season
After a brutal opening to conference play, DePaul won’t have to likely see another ranked team for the rest of January. The Hoyas have Creighton, Seton Hall, and the Wildcats on the horizon, so this game needs to go their way, otherwise that “0” could be sticking with them for a while. This should be a good game, but with it being in DePaul, look for the Blue Demons to enter the win column.
Prediction: DePaul 84 – Georgetown 81