Road Trip to Minnesota Next for Men's Basketball

CHICAGO - The Blue Demons look for their eighth straight win to open the 2019-20 season as DePaul travels to Minnesota for a Friday matinee on Thanksgiving weekend. Start time at Williams Arena in Minneapolis is set for 2 p.m. A win would give DePaul its 11th start of 8-0 in program history.

Friday's game can be seen on FS1 with Kevin Fitzgerald (play-by-play) and Tim Miles (analyst) handling the broadcast duties. The game can be seen online through the FOX Sports app and website. DePaul's radio tandem of Zach Zaidman (play-by-play) and Dave Corzine (analyst) can be heard on WIND (560 AM) and online on DePaul All-Access at depaulbluedemons.com/live. In-game updates can be followed on Twitter at @DePaulHoops and live stats are available at depaulbluedemons.com.

Minnesota is 3-3 overall this season following a 79-56 win against North Dakota on Sunday. DePaul stands at 7-0 following Tuesday's 88-75 win against Central Michigan.

Seven Straight Out of the Gate: DePaul's 7-0 record to begin the 2019-20 season is one of 16 streaks of at least seven games to open a season. It's the longest streak since the 1986-87 squad started with a 16-0 record.

The 1979-80 team won its first 25 games and with a win on Friday, the current team becomes just the 11th team in program history to start the campaign with eight straight victories.

Demon Doings: Notes following DePaul's 88-75 win against Central Michigan on Tuesday:

The Blue Demons have won seven straight games for the first time since a seven-game streak from Nov. 27-Dec. 22, 2012.
DePaul allowed 50 points in a half for the first time this season and first since allowing 53 in the second half to Longwood on March 25, 2019… prior to tonight, the largest deficit of the season was six against Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov 8.
Jaylen Butz recorded his first career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Jalen Coleman-Lands matched his career high (third time) with six three-pointers… his 21 points are a DePaul career-best and his fourth career game of 20 or more points.
Charlie Moore recorded his first career double-double with 18 points and a career-high 13 assists... Moore's 13 assists are tied for sixth on the program's single-game list… the 13 assists are also a Wintrust Arena record.
Paul Reed posted his sixth double-double in seven games this season… 14th career double-double… blocked at least three shots in four of seven games... Reed moved up to 10th on the career blocked shots list… he has 88 blocked shots.
DePaul leads the series, 4-0… the Blue Demons are 84-36 all-time against the current lineup of Mid-American Conference programs.

Trendy: After opening the season shooting .568 (46-81) at the free throw line in the first four games, DePaul is shooting .717 (38-58) at the line over the last three contests... the Blue Demons have blocked at least seven shots in three of the last four games... the team has at least five blocks in six of seven games... over the three previous seasons (2017-19 - 99 games), the team blocked at least seven shots in three total games... in that same period, DePaul blocked at least five shots in a game a total of 23 times... the Blue Demons have held four of seven opponents under 60 points... three players have not missed a shot this season with at least six attempts... Jaylen Butz went 7-for-7 against Chicago, Paul Reed went 6-of-6 against Alcorn State and Devin Gage went 6-for-6 at Iowa... prior to this season, at least six attempts without a miss occurred just 11 times in program history... Butz is the only player in program history with three games of five or more attempts without a miss.

Call It A Comeback: DePaul's win over Central Michigan on Nov. 26 featured the Blue Demons allowing 50 points in the first half and trailing by 18 at halftime before a 56-point second half flipped the advantage to DePaul for an 88-75 final score.

The Blue Demons needed just 8:19 to turn the 50-32 halftime deficit into a 61-60 lead that they wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the game.

It Could Happen: A win would be No. 1,475 for the program since the start of the first fully recognized season in 1923-24... a win also makes DePaul 8-0 for the first time since the start of the 1986-87 season... that team opened the schedule with 16 consecutive victories... since that season, only the 2019-20 squad has started with seven straight wins to the season... a potential eight-game win streak would be the longest for the Blue Demons since a nine-game run from Dec. 7, 1993-Jan. 8, 1994... a loss makes DePaul 7-1 after eight games for the best eight-game record since the 1993-94 squad started the season by winning 10 of its first 11 games... Devin Gage needs 12 points for 500 in his career.

Noting the Blue Demons: The men's basketball program is 1,474-1,024 (.590) all-time... the Blue Demons have knocked down at least one three-pointer in 813 straight games... DePaul's last game without a three was over 25 years ago on Feb. 16, 1993 against UAB at Allstate Arena... the current streak started against Notre Dame on Feb. 21, 1993... over the last nine seasons (since start of 2010-11 season), DePaul is 19-6 against Chicagoland opponents (Chicago State, UIC, Loyola-Chicago, Northern Illinois, Northwestern)... in the last 19 seasons (since the start of 2000-01 season), the record against locals is 33-12... the Blue Demons face UIC (Dec. 14) and Northwestern (Dec. 21) this season.

The Opponent - Minnesota Golden Gophers: Minnesota is 3-3 overall this season... the Golden Gophers have won their last two games following a three-game slide that included a 64-56 loss at Butler on Nov. 12... DePaul faces the Bulldogs on Jan. 18 at Wintrust Arena and Feb. 29 at Hinkle Fieldhouse... Daniel Oturu is averaging a double-double of 16.7 points and 10.8 rebounds per game... others averaging in double figures include Marcus Carr (14.5 ppg), Payton Willis (12.3 ppg) and Gabe Kalscheur (11.8 ppg)... Carr has a team-high 40 assists while Kalscheur and Willis have knocked down a team-best 17 three-pointers each... head coach Richard Pitino is in his seventh season at Minnesota.

The Series: Friday is the 18th meeting between the programs... DePaul holds a 9-8 advantage in the series... the last meeting occured in Orlando at the Old Spice Classic... Minnesota defeated DePaul, 86-85, in the first round of the event.

Against the Big Ten Conference: DePaul is 86-82 all-time against the current lineup of Big Ten Conference programs... Minnesota is one of three Big Ten opponents on the 2019-20 schedule... the Blue Demons won at Iowa, 93-78, on Nov. 11 and host Northwestern on Dec. 21... Northwestern is DePaul's most common Big Ten opponent... Dec. 21 will be the 35th meeting between the Blue Demons and Wildcats... DePaul holds a 20-14 lead in that series... DePaul defeated Penn State (72-70 - OT) and lost to Northwestern (75-68) last season.

Up Next - Dec. 4 vs. Texas Tech: The Blue Demons host the Red Raiders at Wintrust Arena.

The game will be televised on FS1 at 7:30 p.m... radio coverage will be on WIND (560 AM)... the game is part of the BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle.
Texas Tech is currently ranked No. 12 in both national polls with a 5-0 record... the Red Raiders play in the Las Vegas Invitational on Thursday and Friday before traveling to Chicago.
The Red Raiders went 31-7 overall and 14-4 in the Big 12 last season... Texas Tech rached the NCAA Tournament championship game before falling to Virginia.
DePaul has won both meetings in the series... last meeting was at the 2011 Old Spice Classic... the Blue Demons posted a 76-70 win over the Red Raiders in Orlando.

Road Trip to Minnesota Next for Men's Basketball

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jaylen Butz

Jalen Coleman-Lands

Devin Gage

Charlie Moore

Paul Reed

Road Trip to Minnesota Next for Men's Basketball

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jaylen Butz

Jalen Coleman-Lands

Devin Gage

Charlie Moore

Paul Reed

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