Xavier v. DePaul: Preview, matchups, keys to the game

There are not a lot of ways to couch this game as a positive. This one is to avoid finishing dead last in the Big East. Make no mistake, the bottom four of the conference will feature DePaul and Xavier in some positions. There may be a smattering of Marquette, Butler, Providence, or Georgetown in there as well, but those two teams will down amongst the worst. That’s just how it is this season.

But, amongst the worst and the actual worst are two different things. DePaul is 0-3 in the Big East. They played Villanova close, St. John’s not as close, and UConn not really close at all. They’ve accrued six losses, but all of them but an inexplicable 13 point home defeat to Buffalo make sense. They’ve played teams better than them and they’ve lost. Their win at Wichita State isn’t terribly impressive, but it’s a quad two, same as the best of any of Xavier’s wins. But, crucially, Xavier has a Big East win. Should they emerge from this game with two, they’ll have put some open air between them and the Blue Demons at the bottom. Sometimes, you take the little wins.

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Here is a comprehensive list of everything DePaul does well on offense:

Ok, with that out of the way, it’s worth noting that DePaul actually has a pretty decent defense. The Demons are 60th in the nation in efficiency and sixth in the Big East since conference play has started. They force a lot of non-steal turnovers and are excellent on defense inside the arc. While they defend well inside, they also limit attempts outside very well. Only 14 teams in the nation have allowed a lower percentage of opponent’s attempts to come from beyond the arc. Teams have generally shot well on those three point attempts, but that seems like it will be less of a concern against a Xavier team shooting 26.5% from deep over its last three games.

DePaul’s offense is worst in the Big East and 187th in the nation. It’s really bad.

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Players

 

Starting matchups

 

Layden Blocker

Point…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/xavier-v-depaul-preview-matchups-013555274.html

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Publish date : 2026-01-04 01:35:00

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