Blue Demons Begin CBI Finals in Tampa

CHICAGO – DePaul meets USF in the final of the Roman College Basketball Invitational on Monday night in Tampa. The CBI features a best-of-three final series that opens with a game at Yuengling Center between the Blue Demons and Bulls. Both teams have won three games to reach the finals DePaul defeating Central Michigan, Longwood and Coastal Carolina while USF knocked off Stony Brook, Utah Valley and Loyola Marymount.

Start time Monday in Tampa is set for 7 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on ESPNU with Roy Philpot (play-by-play) and Tim McCormick (analyst) calling the action. The game can also be seen online at WatchESPN. In-game updates can be followed on Twitter at @DePaulHoops and live stats are available at depaulbluedemons.com.

USF is 22-13 this season and finished 8-10 in the American Athletic Conference. The Bulls enter the game following a 56-47 win against Loyola Marymount in the CBI semifinals. The Blue Demons are 18-15 and went 7-11 in the BIG EAST. DePaul advanced in the CBI after a 92-87 victory against Coastal Carolina. 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. USF is led by Brian Gregory who is in his second season leading the Bulls and 15th 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 USF play in a best-of-three series on April 1, 3 and if necessary, 5 to decide the tournament champion.

Demon Doings: Notes following DePaul's 92-87 win against Coastal Carolina last Wednesday in the semifinals of the CBI.

The 92-87 win improves DePaul to 18-15 this season... Coastal Carolina finishes the season at 17-17.
DePaul scored at least 90 points for the sixth time in the last seven games.
DePaul is 15-3 all-time at McGrath-Phillips Arena.
The game was DePaul's 15th win at home this season... the most home wins since 15 during the 1989-90 season.
The team has scored 2,595 points this season for second place on the team season chart... the school record is 2,639 by the 1978-79 squad.
Eli Cain moved into DePaul's top 10 on the all-time scoring list.
Paul Reed posted his fifth game this season with at least 20 points... he tallied a career high for the second straight game.
Lyrik Shreiner dished out a career-high six assists in his first start of the season.Max Strus reached double figures for the 25th straight game... his 11-for-11 effort at the free throw line is just the 13th occurrence in program history of at least 11 free throws without a miss.
The game was the first meeting between the programs.

It Could Happen: With 45 points, the 2018-19 team set a new program record for total points in a season... the 1978-79 squad holds the record with 2,639 points... DePaul is playing in the month of April for the first time in program history... Eli Cain needs to 12 points to move into ninth on DePaul's all-time scoring list... Max Strus needs 10 points to move into 34th place.

Trendy: If Max Strus scores 60 points in the remainder of the season, he joins Mark Aguirre as the only players in program history to score 700 points in a season... Aguirre did it twice... DePaul has outrebounded the opponent in 25 of 33 games... the Blue Demons are 18-7 in those games and 0-8 when getting outrebounded... only Stanley Brundy has recorded a better season field goal percentage than Femi Olujobi's .620 (152-245) mark this season... in BIG EAST games, Paul Reed went 44-of-48 (.917) at the free throw line.

The Opponent – USF Bulls: USF stands at 22-13 overall and finished 8-10 in the American Athletic Conference during the season... the Bulls defeated Stony Brook, 82-79 in overtime, in the CBI first round on March 20... in the quarterfinals on March 25, USF knocked off Utah Valley, 66-57, before a 56-47 win over Loyola Marymount in the semifinals... David Collins leads the team with a scoring average of 15.7 points per game... Laquincy Rideau adds 12.8 points per game while Alexis Yetna averages 12.1 points per game... head coach Brian Gregory is in his second season at USF... DePaul head coach Dave Leitao is 3-1 all-time against USF.

The Series: Monday is the 28th meeting between the programs... DePaul holds a 15-12 advantage in the series... Monday is the first meeting since an 83-73 win for USF in Tampa on March 3, 2013... DePaul last win in the series was a 69-61 decision on Feb. 9, 2008... the Bulls have won eight straight over the Blue Demons.

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Players Mentioned

Eli Cain

Femi Olujobi

Paul Reed

Lyrik Shreiner

Max Strus

DePaul University Athletics