VILLANOVA LOOKS TO KEEP DEPAUL WINLESS IN BIG EAST

February 25, 2009


Jerry Wainwright and his DePaul Blue Demons are running out of chances to avoid an 0-18 record in Big East play. Currently sitting at 0-14, the Blue Demons have a home game tonight against red-hot Villanova and wrap-up their home schedule this weekend with St. John's before finishing on the road against West Virginia and Georgetown.

Villanova continues to play for NCAA seeding and are coming off a very impressive road win at Syracuse on Sunday afternoon. Their athletic and deep backcourt looks to be a nightmare for the Blue Demons and the experienced front court led by Dante Cunningham also matches up well with DePaul. At 10-4 in the Big East and 22-5 overall, getting a top-four Big East seed for the Big East tournament is a real possibility for the Wildcats and should keep them focused in what could be a classic sandwich game.

With Georgetown up next and coming off the thrilling 89-86 win at Syracuse, a letdown may be very natural for Jay Wright's squad. Making the cold trip to the midwest in the middle of the week is never a fun prospect, even for college kids, so getting their intensity level up in a near-empty Allstate Arena might be a challenge.

Led by junior Scottie Reynolds and senior Dante Cunningham, and also getting increased productioin from sophomore corey Fisher and senior Dwayne Anderson, the Wildcats seem to be coming together quite well as February rolls ahead towards March. Their penchant for extending defensive pressure deep into the backcourt will test the very weakness of DePaul that has been the biggest cause of their 0-fer Big East record: ball-handling. With Jabari Currie lost for the season, freshmen Jeremiah Kelly and Mike Bizoukas handle most of the duties at the point. Scoring wings Will Walker and Dar Tucker will also have pressure to produce against the 'Nova defensive specialists.

At some point you have to beleive something goes right for DePaul. Players like Mac Koshwal and Dar Tucker can be productive players in the Big East and Will Walker has shown he could score in the Big East. The problem is the rest of the roster will have to play over their heads to give a Big East-level performance, something that can very much happen, but has yet to do so. Nobody wants to be that first victim, and although I think they put up a fight, I do not see 'Nova being the first to fall either.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Villanova 79
DePaul 67