DePaul University Athletics
Game On for DePaul and Providence on Thursday Afternoon
1/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
DePaul at Providence
Thursday, Jan. 29 | 2 p.m. ET
Dunkin' Donuts Center | Providence, R.I.
TV: FOX Sports 1 | Online Video/Mobile App: FOX Sports Go
Online Audio: BlueTube | Mobile Audio App: DePaul Gameday Live
Game Notes: DePaul 
| Providence
CHICAGO - The Blue Demons and Friars meet 41 hours after their originally scheduled start time with a rare weekday BIG EAST matinee on Thursday. Tuesday's scheduled time of 9 p.m. ET was postponed due to winter weather throughout the region and rescheduled for a 2 p.m. ET start on Thursday at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence.
The game is third of three straight on road for the Blue Demons with a win at No. 24/24 Seton Hall last Thursday followed by a loss at Xavier on Saturday.
Thursday's game will be televised on FOX Sports 1 with Rick Ackerman (play-by-play) and Vin Parise (analyst) handling the television duties. The broadcast can also be seen on the FOX Sports Go app wherever FOX Sports 1 is available. DePaul's radio tandem of Zach Zaidman (play-by-play) and Jeff Blanzy (analyst) can be heard on BlueTube at www.depaulbluedemons.com and on DePaul's mobile app. Live stats can be found on GameTracker at www.depaulbluedemons.com while in-game scoring updates and notes can be followed at www.twitter.com/depaulsid.
DePaul stands at 11-10 overall and 5-3 in the BIG EAST this season while Providence enters the game with a 15-5 record overall and 5-2 mark in league play. The Friars are tied with Villanova for first place in the BIG EAST standings while DePaul and Butler are tied for fourth at 5-3 in league play. Head coach Oliver Purnell is in his fifth season at DePaul and his 27th as a head coach at the collegiate level. Providence is led by Ed Cooley who is in his fourth season leading the Friars. Thursday's game is the 33rd meeting between the two programs and the first of two during the regular season. Providence makes the return trip to Allstate Arena on Feb. 18.
Following the Providence game, DePaul hosts No. 7/7 Villanova on Saturday afternoon. Start time between the Blue Demons and Wildcats is 1 p.m. at Allstate Arena on FOX Sports 1 and WYLL 1160 AM.
Noting the Blue Demons: The men's basketball program is 1,418-932 (.603) all-time... the 81-70 win over Florida Atlantic on Dec. 12, 2013 was win No. 1,400 since start of 1923-24 season... the Blue Demons have knocked down at least one three-pointer in 665 straight games... DePaul's last game without a three was Feb. 16, 1993 against UAB at Allstate Arena... DePaul's current roster features eight players that have made at least 10 three-pointers this season... the Blue Demons are 331-163 (.670) all-time at Allstate Arena... DePaul is 9-1 (.900) all-time in games at McGrath-Phillips Arena... in Oliver Purnell's five seasons at DePaul, the Blue Demons are 13-1 against Chicagoland opponents (Chicago State, UIC, Loyola-Chicago, Northern Illinois, Northwestern)... DePaul posted a 3-0 record this season with wins over UIC, Northern Illinois and Chicago State... in the Purnell era, the Blue Demons are 25-4 (4-0 in 2014-15/6-1 in 2013-14) when scoring 80 or more points... DePaul's 2014-15 roster includes nine players from the Chicagoland area.
The Opponent: Providence is 15-5 overall and 5-2 in BIG EAST action after a 69-66 overtime win against Xavier on Jan. 22... the Friars have won two straight and four of their last five games... LaDontae Henton leads the team with 21.2 points per game... Kris Dunn adds 14.5 points per game and team highs of 5.8 rebounds and 7.8 assists per outing... head coach Ed Cooley is in his fourth season leading the Friars... DePaul head coach Oliver Purnell is 2-3 all-time against Providence.
The Series: Thursday is the 33rd all-time meeting between the two programs... the Friars hold a 24-8 advantage in the series... in five of the last six games, the visiting team has won... a year ago, Providence swept the season series with a 72-77 win at Allstate Arena on Feb. 1 and an 81-64 decision at Dunkin' Donuts Center on Feb. 15.
The Last Meeting: Providence posted an 84-61 win at Dunkin' Donuts Center on Feb. 15, 2014... Bryce Cotton's 22 points led six Providence players in double-figures... the Friars led, 49-26, at halftime... Brandon Young scored 18 points to lead DePaul... Sandi Marcius added 15 and Billy Garrett Jr. scored 10 points... the Friars used an early 16-0 run to build a 19-4 advantage... after trailing by 24 points late in the first half, DePaul closed to within 14 early in the second but could get no closer... other Providence players in double-figures were Kadeem Batts (15), LaDontae Henton (13), Carson Desrosiers (12), Josh Fortune (10) and Tyler Harris (10).
It Could Happen: A win moves DePaul into a tie for second place in the BIG EAST standings... a loss pushed the Blue Demons into a tie for fifth... a win also clinches a winning record in the month of January... would be first winning January since going 5-4 in January 2008... a win gives DePaul six BIG EAST wins... the potential sixth win would the be the most since the Blue Demons went 6-12 in the BIG EAST in 2007-08... DePaul's highest BIG EAST win total is nine during the 2006-07 campaign... Jamee Crockett is playing in his 100th career game... with 10 or more points, Crockett records his 40th career game in double-figures... Crockett (104 3pt. FG) needs three three-pointers to move into a tie for 16th all-time at DePaul... Moses Morgan (2010-13) is in 16th place with 107 career three's.
Trendy: DePaul is averaging just under 70 possessions per game... the Blue Demons are 7-5 in games with 70 possessions or less and 4-5 with 71 or more possessions... DePaul recorded a season-low 63 possessions at Creighton on Jan. 7 and against Georgetown on Jan. 13... prior to the Creighton game, the Blue Demons played 64 possessions in wins over Marquette and Xavier... the Blue Demons held a 1.23 points per possession (ppp) against Drake, 1.19 against Stanford and Milwaukee and 1.14 against Georgetown... DePaul is one of two teams in the BIG EAST with St. John's to feature four of the top 23 scorers in the league... Myke Henry (13.3 ppg) is 10th, Billy Garrett Jr. (13.0 ppg) is 12th, Tommy Hamilton IV (10.9 ppg) is tied for 21st and Jamee Crockett (10.6 ppg) is 23rd... in the team BIG EAST rankings for all games, the Blue Demons lead the league in three-point field goal percentage (.365) and three-pointers field goals (8.2 per game)... DePaul is also second in free throw percentage (.741) and third in scoring (72.4 ppg)... in conference games only, the Blue Demons are first in three-point field goal percentage (.376) and second in three-point field goals (8.4 per game) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.281)... after going 12-for-24 from the free throw line in the season opener, DePaul went 305-of-393 (.776) over the next 18 games... in the last two games, the team free throw percentage has totaled just .565 (26-46)... the Milwaukee game on Dec. 7 featured a team effort of 21-for-23 (.913) that included 11-of-11 from Billy Garrett Jr. and 7-for-7 from Tommy Hamilton IV... the Blue Demons pulled off an almost identical performance against Colorado by combining to go 20-for-22 (.909) from the line... Garrett duplicated the 11-of-11 performance against Colorado at the Diamond Head Classic.
Demon Doings: Notes following DePaul's 89-76 win at Xavier on Jan. 24:
- DePaul's 50 points in the first half marked the first 50-point half since scoring 50 in the second half against Oregon State on Dec. 1, 2013.
- The 13 three-pointers are a season high and seventh game this season with 10 or more three's... DePaul is 5-2 this season when making 10 or more three's
- At least four players reached double-figures for the 12th time this season.
- Jamee Crockett played in his 99th career game.
- DePaul leads the series, 9-6... the Musketeers have not lost a game at the Cintas Center this season.
Three Named to BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll Five Times: DePaul's Myke Henry, Tommy Hamilton IV and Billy Garrett Jr. have been named to a BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll following outstanding weekly efforts on the court. Henry was named to the weekly team on Dec. 1 and Jan. 26 while Hamilton earned the honor on Dec. 8 and Garrett on Jan. 5 and Jan. 19.
Following career-best games against Lehigh and Stanford, junior forward Myke Henry was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Dec. 1. Henry averaged 26.5 points and 8.0 rebounds during the week while shooting .618 (21-34) from the field. The Chicago native posted his first career double-double with 24 points and a career-high 10 rebounds against Lehigh and followed that effort with a career-high 29 points against Stanford with six rebounds, three assists, three blocked shots and two steals.
Henry picked up his second weekly honor after averaging 13.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in games at Seton Hall and Xavier. Henry scored 14 points with eight rebounds, two blocked shots and steal at Seton Hall last Thursday. The Chicago native went 7-for-12 from free throw line to lead the Blue Demons into a first-place tie in the league standings following the 64-60 win over the 24th-ranked Pirates.
Two days later at Xavier, Henry totaled 13 points with eight rebounds at Xavier on Saturday. He hit two of DePaul's season-high 13 three-pointers while registering his fourth straight game in double-figures.
Hamilton averaged 17.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in wins over Northern Illinois, Chicago State and Milwaukee. He totaled 13 points, five rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals against Northern Illinois before a 25-point, eight-rebound game at Chicago State. He went a perfect 7-for-7 from the field against the Cougars and became just the fourth player in school history to not miss a shot in a game with a minimum of seven attempts. Hamilton concluded his strong weekly performance with 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots against Milwaukee.
Garrett averaged 17.0 points, 5.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds while shooting .688 from the floor helping DePaul beat Marquette and Xavier. He led DePaul with 19 points that included eight points in the final 3:30 to erase the Marquette lead and win the game on New Year's Eve. He hit a game-tying three-pointer with two minutes left and gave the Blue Demons the lead for good with two free throws shortly thereafter. On Jan. 3 against Xavier, he recorded his second career double-double with 15 points and 10 assists with a team-high five rebounds.
In games against Georgetown and St. John's, Garrett averaged 18.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He went 20-for-21 from the free throw line in the two games including a 13-for-13 effort against the Red Storm. Garrett scored 16 points and matched his career high with six rebounds against Georgetown. He also added five assists and went 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the 78-72 loss to the Hoyas. Against St. John's, he scored a season-high 20 points that included the 13 straight free throws. Garrett added two rebounds, two assists and two steals in leading the Blue Demons to the 71-67 overtime win over the Red Storm.
Garrett's 13-for-13 effort marked just the fifth occurrence in program history that a player didn't miss a free throw in game with a minimum of 13 attempts. The mark also matched his perfect free throw effort at Allstate Arena. Garrett is the only DePaul to not miss a free throw in game at Allstate Arena with a minimum of 10 attempts. He went 11-for-11 earlier this season against Milwaukee on Dec. 7.
On Deck: DePaul hosts seventh-ranked Villanova on Saturday at Allstate Arena... the Blue Demons and Wildcats are scheduled for a 1 p.m. start on FOX Sports 1 and WYLL 1160 AM... Villanova leads the series, 19-8, nine straight victories... the Wildcats recorded an 81-64 win over DePaul earlier this season at The Pavilion on Jan. 10... through games of Tuesday, Villanova and Providence are tied for first place in the BIG EAST with a 5-2 record... overall, Villanova holds an 18-2 record.
