DePaul Hosts Chicago State Wednesday Night

CHICAGO - DePaul plays the second of three consecutive games against local competition on Wednesday night. The Blue Demons played the first local contest on Saturday at Northwestern with Chicago State visiting Wintrust Arena on Wednesday followed by UIC on Friday. Start time between the Blue Demons and Cougars at Wintrust Arena is set for 7 p.m.

Wednesday's game will be televised on FS1 with Lisa Byington (play-by-play) and Dickey Simpkins (analyst) handling the television duties. The game can also be seen online at foxsportsgo.com or the FOX Sports Go app. DePaul's radio tandem of Zach Zaidman (play-by-play) and Jeff Blanzy (analyst) can be heard on WSCR 670 AM as well as online on DePaul All-Access at www.depaulbluedemons.com. Live stats can also be found at www.depaulbluedemons.com while in-game scoring updates can be followed on Twitter at @DePaulHoops.

Chicago State is 3-8 overall this season and enter Wednesday's contest on a three-game win streak. DePaul head coach Dave Leitao is in his seventh season at DePaul and his fourth since returning to the program after leading the Blue Demons three postseasons in three years from 2002-05. Overall, the 2018-19 campaign is Leitao's 13th as a head coach at the collegiate level. Chicago State is led by Lance Irvin who is in his first season leading the Cougars.

WWWWWintrust Arena: DePaul's five straight wins at home to open the season is the best home start since the 2006-07 team won its first seven outings. The 2006-07 squad won every home non-conference game before a 59-49 loss against Pittsburgh on Jan. 10, 2007 to begin the BIG EAST home schedule.

Demon Doings: Notes following DePaul's 75-68 loss at Northwestern on Dec. 8:

Eli Cain made his 99th career start.
Devin Gage scored a career-high 17 points… previously he scored 14 against Penn State on Nov. 15.
Femi Olujobi scored in double-figures for the fourth time in the last five games… he recorded his first 20-point game at DePaul and the 12th of his career.
Saturday was the 34th all-time meeting between the programs… DePaul leads the series, 20-14… Northwestern has won the last four meetings.
Max Strus passed Kerry Hartfield (1998-00, 96 3FG) for 21st on DePaul's all-time three-point field goal list… Strus has 97 three's at DePaul.

It Could Happen: A win would give DePaul a 6-0 start to the season at home... it would be the best home start since the 2006-07 squad won its first seven home games... with 10 points, Eli Cain registers his 65th career game in double-figures... Wednesday marks the 100th career start for Cain... Max Strus needs three three-pointers for 100 in his career... he would be the 21st player in program history with 100 three-pointers.

Trendy: In the last two games, DePaul is 9-for-43 (.209) from three-point range... the Blue Demons are a combined 5-0 on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, but 0-2 on Saturday... Jaylen Butz is shooting .636 (14-22) from the field over the last five games... Jalen Coleman-Lands is averaging 12.3 points and 4.5 rebounds over the last four games... Femi Olujobi has scored in double figures in four of the last five games... he is averaging 14.2 points per game in that span while shooting .692 (27-39) from the field.

The Opponent - Chicago State Cougars: Chicago State is 3-8 overall this season... the Cougars have won three straight over East-West University, Eastern Illinois and Trinity Christian... Anthony Harris leads the team with 15.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game... Rob Shaw adds 11.7 points per game and a team-high 67 assists... head coach Lance Irvin is in his first season at Chicago State... Irvin was an assistant coach at DePaul for Joey Meyer from 1992-97... DePaul head coach Dave Leitao is 3-0 all-time against the Cougars.

The Series: Wednesday is the 16th all-time meeting between the programs... DePaul holds a 15-0 advantage in the series... this season is the first meeting since a 109-61 victory at Allstate Arena on Dec. 17, 2016.

Up Next: Dec. 14 vs. UIC at Wintrust Arena

The game will be televised nationally on FS1 and can be heard in Chicago on WSCR (670 AM).
UIC is 4-6 overall this season.
DePaul and UIC meet for the ninth time with the Blue Demons holding a 6-2 advantage in the series.
DePaul knocked off the Flames at the UIC Pavilion last December by a score of 65-55.
The 2018 meeting marks the fifth straight year the two sides have played.
The Flames went 20-16 overall last season and finished 12-6 in Horizon League games.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jaylen Butz

Eli Cain

Jalen Coleman-Lands

Devin Gage

Femi Olujobi

Max Strus

DePaul University Athletics