DePaul Blue Demons vs Marquette Golden Eagles
January 18th, 2011 9 PM EST
Opening Line: Marquette -20.5
Current Line: Marquette -19
Opening Total: 149
Current Total: 149
Moneyline: Marquette -3900 / DePaul +1550
Tonight’s game brings together the 12-6 Marquette Golden Eagles against the 6-11 DePaul Blue Demons. DePaul is currently 15th (last) in the Big East, as they have dropped all five of their conference games. Marquette is 7th in the Big East with a 3-2 record against conference opponents.
Tonight’s game will be a welcome respite for the Golden Eagles. They have played their last 3 games against ranked opponents, dropping two of them (to #5 Pittsburgh and #17 Louisville) and winning one (against #11 Notre Dame). The Golden Eagles actually blew out Notre Dame, winning by 22 points. 6’3″ senior guard Dwight Buyucks had his best game of the season that night, scoring 21 points on 7 of 9 shooting from the field (5 of 5 from three point range).
DePaul, despite having a 6-11 record, has been in most of their games and their -2.8 point differential attests to that. Marquette, conversely, has blown out most of their opponents and suffered only close losses in their lost games. They are 17th in the nation in scoring with 80.1 points per game and only give up 67.9, good for a 12.2 point differential.
Some betting trends:
DePaul is 0-5 SU in their last 5 road games and 3-6 ATS in their last 9 games against Marquette. they are also 0-5 SU in their last 5 road games against the Golden Eagles.
Marquette is 8-4 SU in their last 12 games and 6-1 SU in their last 7 home games. They are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games against DePaul and 4-1 SU in their last 5 against DePaul. The total has gone OVER in 4 of their last 6 games against DePaul and the are 5-0 SU in their last 5 home games against DePaul.
DePaul is led by the trio of Cleveland Melvin, Brandon Young, and Tony Freeland, who together combine for 52% of DePaul’s scoring output. Melvin, a 6’8″ Freshman forward, averages 14.2 points per game in only 23.1 minutes a game. He shoots 53.7% from the floor and has scored in doubel figures in the last 10 DePaul games, including five games over 20 points, as his playing time has increased dramatically over that time span. He scored 29 in the 86-75 loss to Georgetown on January 1st, shooting 13 of 19 from the floor and playing nearly the whole game (36 minutes). Jimmy Butler of Marquette will have the task of guarding Melvin. Butler matches up favorable, as he is only 1″ shorter and also hits the boards hard (6.5 rebounds per game). He’ll also challenge Melvin on offense as he is the Golden Eagles’ second leading scorer at 15.1 points per game.
Marquette is led by Darius Johnson-Odom, a 6’2″ junior point guard. Odom scores 15.7 points per game but managese only 2.7 assists per night. He shoots 35.9% from three and has scored in double figures in all but two of Marquette’s games. He has also had four games with 20+ points and had his season tying high of 29 in an 8 point road win against Rutgers. The aforementioned Crowder is quietly having himself an excellent year, as well, but struggled last game against Louisville, going 4 of 11 from the floor for only 8 points.
Tonight’s game is not predicted to be close by vegas oddsmakers, but I do think DePaul can at least cover the spread, particuarly if Melvin is able to get off to a good start and have another big game.
