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DePaul vs. Villanova: Key storylines for 2019-20 Big East matchup

By Jason Burgess

PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 21: Cole Swider #10, Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree #21, Collin Gillespie #2, and Jermaine Samuels #23 of the Villanova Wildcats celebrate with their teammates after defeating the Kansas Jayhawks at the Wells Fargo Center on December 21, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Villanova Wildcats defeated the Kansas Jayhawks 56-55. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 21: Cole Swider #10, Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree #21, Collin Gillespie #2, and Jermaine Samuels #23 of the Villanova Wildcats celebrate with their teammates after defeating the Kansas Jayhawks at the Wells Fargo Center on December 21, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Villanova Wildcats defeated the Kansas Jayhawks 56-55. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – JANUARY 30: Paul Reed #4 of the DePaul Blue Demons battles Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree #21 of the Villanova Wildcats and Jermaine Samuels #23 of the Villanova Wildcats (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – JANUARY 30: Paul Reed #4 of the DePaul Blue Demons battles Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree #21 of the Villanova Wildcats and Jermaine Samuels #23 of the Villanova Wildcats (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /

Villanova hosts DePaul on Tuesday in a key Big East game for teams. Here are some things to watch for during the contest.

The DePaul Blue Demons sit at 12-4 on the year and are in the midst of one of their best seasons in a long time. On Tuesday night they have a chance to put a big notch in their belt when going on the road to face the king’s of the conference Villanova, but the Wildcats will surely be ready to show DePaul they still have some work to do to be considered a top team in the conference.

The Big East is another conference that is having a bit of a bounce-back season thus far and one of the reasons for that is the surprisingly good start of the Blue Demons. Dave Leitao has his team playing well with wins over Iowa, Minnesota, and Texas Tech in non-conference play. League play hasn’t started as they would’ve hoped, dropping close games to Seton Hall and Providence, and fell to St. John’s their last time out to fall to 0-3 in conference play.

The names may change but the results stay the same for Jay Wright and Villanova. The No. 14 Wildcats have won eight of their last nine and two of their three losses were to teams now ranked in the top 21, Baylor and Ohio State. They began league play 1-1, but enter this game with DePaul off of wins over Creighton and Georgetown.

The defending regular-season and tournament champs are looking to show they are still king of the hill until they are knocked off, and DePaul is looking for a signature win to show that this is a different Blue Demons team. Here are some intriguing storylines for this Big East battle.

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