Blue Demons Host Butler at Wintrust Arena

CHICAGO - DePaul returns to Wintrust Arena for a Wednesday night BIG EAST game against the Butler Bulldogs. Start time on between the Blue Demons and Bulldogs is set for 7:30 p.m. as DePaul looks for its third straight conference win. The Butler game is the lone home contest in a five-game stretch for the Blue Demons that opened with a 79-71 win at No. 24/23 St. John's on Saturday night at Carnesecca Arena.

Wednesday's game will be televised on FS1 with Lisa Byington (play-by-play) and Stephen Howard (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 Dave Corzine (analyst) can be heard on WIND 560 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.

Butler is 10-7 overall this season and 1-3 in BIG EAST play. The Bulldogs enter Wednesday's contest following a 70-69 loss at Xavier on Sunday. The Blue Demons are 10-5 and 2-2 in the BIG EAST after the 79-71 win at St. John's on Saturday. 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. Butler is led by LaVall Jordan who is in his second season leading the Bulldogs and third season overall as a head coach at the collegiate level.

Demon Doings: Notes following DePaul's 79-71 win at St. John's on Jan. 12:

DePaul extended its streak to 785 consecutive games with a three-pointer.
The win was the first against a ranked opponent since a 77-70 win against No. 11/11 Providence on Feb. 2, 2016 at Allstate Arena… the last road win over a ranked opponent was a 64-60 win at No. 24/24 Seton Hall on Jan. 22, 2015.
Paul Reed and Max Strus are the first two DePaul players to record a double-double since Strus and Marin Maric on Feb. 24, 2018.
Femi Olujobi's 27 points are a season high and the eight rebounds match his season high.
Reed recorded his first double-double with a career-high 18 points and 10 rebounds… Strus recorded his second double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 boards.
Eli Cain (1,390 pts.) moved into 18th place on DePaul's all-time scoring list… he passed Tyrone Corbin (1981-85, 1,378 pts.).
St. John's holds a 23-19 advantage in the series… the visiting team has won the last three meetings betweens the programs.

It Could Happen: A win would be DePaul's 10th at Wintrust Arena this season giving DePaul at least 10 home wins for the first time since the 2006-07 team went 14-2 at home... a win would mark DePaul's first three-game win streak in BIG EAST play since the 2014-15 team started the conference schedule with three straight wins... Eli Cain is playing in his 110th career game... Cain needs nine points to pass Quemont Greer (2001-05, 1,397 pts.) for 17th place and Terry Cummings (1979-82, 1,398 pts.) for 16th place... Cain needs six assists to move into 15th on the assist list... with four three-pointers, Cain moves into the top 5 all-time passing Draelon Burns (2004-08, 150 3FG) for sixth and Jeremiah Kelly (2008-12, 152 3FG) for fifth place... Max Strus needs 21 points to reach the 800-point plateau at DePaul... he's playing in his 46th game on Wednesday... with four three-pointers, Strus moves into the top 10 at DePaul passing Brandon Young (2010-14, 130 3FG).

Trendy: DePaul is 8-1 combined on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, but 2-4 on Saturday and Sunday... the Blue Demons are ranked second in steals and third in the BIG EAST in both field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense... on the boards, DePaul is first in defensive rebound percentage, second in rebounding defense and third in rebounding offense, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds and offensive rebound percentage... Jaylen Butz is shooting .661 (41-62) from the field over the last 13 games... Eli Cain has scored in double figures in 10 of the last 12 games with a nine-point game... Paul Reed is averaging 12.0 points and 9.1 rebounds per game in his seven starts... Max Strus ranked among the top five in the BIG EAST in minutes per game (first), three-pointers per game (third), defensive rebounds (third), rebounding (fourth) and scoring (fifth).

The Opponent - Butler Bulldogs: Butler stands at 10-7 overall and 1-3 in the BIG EAST... the Bulldogs have dropped two straight games by a single point on the road at Seton Hall and Xavier... Kamar Baldwin leads the team with 17.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game... Paul Jorgenson adds 13.1 points per game and Sean McDermott averages 10.2 points per game... the duo of Jorgenson (41 3FG) and McDermott (44 3FG) have combined for 85 of Butler's 150 three-pointers this season... head coach LaVall Jordan is in his second season at Butler... DePaul head coach Dave Leitao is 0-6 all-time against Butler.

The Series: Wednesday is the 17th all-time meeting between the two programs... Butler leads the series, 10-6... Butler has won nine straight in the series including two wins last season... the Bulldogs posted a 79-67 decision on Jan. 20 at Wintrust Arena followed by an 80-57 margin on Feb. 3 at Hinkle Fieldhouse... Butler won the first meeting during the 1938-39 season by a score of 39-29 at the Chicago Armory... the two sides met in the 1940-41 season, twice during the 1970's and twice in the 1980's... since Butler joined the BIG EAST, the Bulldogs have won nine of 10 meetings... two of the 10 games have gone to overtime.

Up Next: Jan. 19 at Seton Hall

The game will be televised nationally on FS1 and can be heard in Chicago on WIND (560 AM) at 8 p.m. ET.
Seton Hall is 12-5 overall this season and 3-2 in BIG EAST games... the Pirates play at Providence on Tuesday before hosting DePaul.
Saturday's game is the 24th all-time meeting between the two programs... Seton Hall leads the series, 16-7.
DePaul won the first meeting this season, 75-74, at Wintrust Arena on Jan. 6.

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Players Mentioned

Jaylen Butz

Eli Cain

Marin Maric

Femi Olujobi

Paul Reed

Max Strus

DePaul University Athletics