CBI Semifinals Up Next on Wednesday for Blue Demons

Wednesday, March 27

McGrath-Phillips Arena

7:00 P.M. CT

DePaul University

Coastal Carolina

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CBI Semifinals Up Next on Wednesday for Blue Demons

3/26/2019 5:34:00 PM | MEN'S BASKETBALL

Ticket Information DePaul Game Notes Live Video Live Stats

DePaul hosts Coastal Carolina at 7 p.m. at McGrath-Phillips Arena

CHICAGO - DePaul continues its run in the Roman College Basketball Invitational when Coastal Carolina visits Chicago for a semifinal game on Wednesday night. Both teams posted first round and quarterfinals wins with DePaul defeating Central Michigan and Longwood while Coastal Carolina knocked off Howard and West Virginia. The game between the Blue Demons and Chanticleers will be played at McGrath-Phillips Arena on DePaul's Lincoln Park campus. Wednesday's winner advances to the best-of-three finals next week.

Start time Wednesday at McGrath-Phillips Arena is set for 7 p.m. The game can be seen online on the BIG EAST Digital Network via the FOX Sports Go app or foxsportsgo.com with Dave Bernhard (play-by-play) and Dave Corzine (analyst) calling the action. In-game updates can be followed on Twitter at @DePaulHoops and with live stats at depaulbluedemons.com.

Coastal Carolina is 17-16 overall this season and finished 9-9 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Chanticleers enter the game following a 109-91 win at West Virginia in the CBI quarterfinals. The Blue Demons are 17-15 and went 7-11 in the BIG EAST. DePaul advanced in the CBI after a 97-89 victory against Longwood. 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. Coastal Carolina is led by Cliff Ellis who is in his 12th season leading the Chanticleers and 45th season overall as a head coach at the collegiate level.

CBI Setup: The Roman College Basketball Invitational is a 16-team postseason tournament that is hosted at on-campus facilities. In its 12th year, the format consists of eight first round games, four quarterfinal matchups and two semifinals before a best-of-three series between the two final teams.

Following the quarterfinal round, the bracket was reorganized for the semifinals that will be played on Wednesday or Thursday. DePaul and Coastal Carolina play in Chicago on Wednesday followed by Loyola Marymount traveling to South Florida on Thursday. The best-of-three series is next week on April 1, 3 and if necessary, 5.

Demon Doings: Notes following DePaul's 97-89 win against Longwood on Monday in the quarterfinals of the CBI.

The 97-89 win over Longwood puts DePaul at a 17-15 record this season... Longwood finishes the season at 16-18.
DePaul scored at least 90 points for the fifth time in the last six games.
DePaul is 14-3 all-time at McGrath-Phillips Arena.
The game was DePaul's 14th win at home this season for the most since the 2006-07 team went 14-2... the 2018-19 Blue Demons are 14-6 this season.
The team has scored 2,503 points this season for third on the team season chart.
Eli Cain recorded his seventh game of the season (third straight) with 20 or more points (22nd career).
Femi Olujobi eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau for his career between Oakland (Mich.), North Carolina A&T and DePaul... he also grabbed his 500th career rebound.
Paul Reed posted his eighth double-double of the season that included a career-high 23 points.
Max Strus scored at least 30 points for the fourth time in six games... he made at least five threes in a game for the 14th time... Strus increased his school record for season three-pointers... he finished the game with 104 this season... Strus moved up to seventh on DePaul season scoring list... he is the fifth player in school history to score at least 600 points in a season... on the all-time scoring list, he moved up from 45th to 38th on DePaul's all-time scoring list.
The game was the first meeting between DePaul and Longwood.

More Strus Scoring: In back-to-back games against St. John's and Georgetown, Max Strus totaled 73 points with games of 43 and 30 points against St. John's and Georgetown. He is the first player since Draelon Burns in Nov. 2007 to record back-to-back games with at least 30 points and just the eighth player in program history to accomplish the feat.

In the first two games of the CBI, Strus has totaled 71 points with games of 33 and 38 points. In the process, he joins Mark Aguirre as the only players in program history to back-to-back 30-plus games twice in a season which he did during the 1979-80 campaign.

The last player with three straight games of at least 30 points scored was George Mikan at the end of the 1944-45 season when he posted games of 33 points against West Virginia, 53 against Rhode Island and 34 against Bowling Green State in March 1945.

It Could Happen: With 65 points, the 2018-19 team moves up to second on the season list for most team points... the 1978-79 squad holds the record with 2,639 points... with five three-pointers, the 2018-19 squad moves up to third... DePaul has 2,503 points and 220 threes this season... with five points, Eli Cain moves into 10th on DePaul's all-time scoring list.

Trendy: DePaul has outrebounded the opponent in 24 of 32 games... the Blue Demons are 17-7 in those games and 0-8 when getting outrebounded... in BIG EAST play, DePaul was 6-4 in weekend games (4-3 on Saturday, 2-1 on Sunday)... only Stanley Brundy has recorded a better season field goal percentage than Femi Olujobi's .615 (144-234) mark this season... in BIG EAST games, Paul Reed went 44-of-48 (.917) at the free throw line.

The Opponent - Coastal Carolina: Coastal Carolina stands at 17-16 overall and finished 9-9 in the Sun Belt Conference during the season... the Chanticleers defeated Howard, 81-72, in the CBI first round on March 20... in the quarterfinals on Monday, Coastal Carolina knocked off West Virginia, 109-91, in Morgantown... Zac Cuthbertson leads the team with a scoring average of 18.1 points per game and a team-high 8.3 rebounds per game... DeVante Jones adds 14.5 points per game while Tyrell Gumbs-Frater averages 10.0 points per game... as a team, the Chanticleers have made 272 three-pointers with three players totaling at least 40 threes in Gumbs-Frater (73), Ajay Sanders (51, 7.6 ppg) and Cuthbertson (41)... head coach Cliff Ellis is in his 12th season at Coastal Carolina... DePaul head coach Dave Leitao is facing the Chanticleers for the first time.

The Series: Wednesday is the first meeting between the programs.