DePaul Travels to Connecticut for Wednesday Matchup

CHICAGO – Following a Sunday game at Providence, the Blue Demons return to the region for play 50 miles west at Connecticut on Wednesday night. DePaul opened the road swing with a 95-90 loss in double overtime against the Friars and conclude the road trip at St. John's on Saturday.

Wednesday's game can be seen on CBS Sports Network starting at 8 p.m. CT p.m. with Carter Blackburn (play-by-play) and Dan Dickau (analyst) handling the broadcast duties. DePaul's radio tandem of Zach Zaidman (play-by-play) and Dave Corzine (analyst) can be heard on WSCR (670 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.

Connecticut enters the game at 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the BIG EAST after a 76-74 overtime loss against Creighton on Dec. 20. That loss snapped a three-game win streak for the Huskies.

Leitao Returns to Storrs: DePaul head coach Dave Leitao started his college coaching career as a member of the Connecticut staff in 1986 under head coach Jim Calhoun.

Leitao joined Calhoun's coaching staff as an assistant at Northeastern in the fall of 1984 and spent two seasons at the Boston school. With him on the bench, the Huskies reached the NCAA Tournament in both seasons (1985 and 1986) and compiled a record of 48-14 (.774). He then followed Calhoun to Connecticut in the spring of 1986.
Leitao played an integral role in the building of Connecticut basketball into the nationally-regarded program that it is today. As an assistant coach for eight seasons (1986-94) in Storrs, the Huskies posted a record of 162-91 (.640), made four appearances in the NCAA Tournament and won the 1988 NIT Championship. Following the 1993-94 season, he returned to his alma mater as head coach at Northeastern.
Before making his first move to DePaul in 2002, Leitao spent six seasons as the associate head coach at Connecticut. During those six campaigns, the Huskies experienced unprecedented success compiling a 156-51 (.754) record highlighted by capturing the 1999 NCAA Championship with a thrilling 77-74 victory over Duke. He also helped guide the Huskies to three other appearances in the NCAA Tournament, reaching the Elite Eight twice and the second round once. Connecticut also reached the NIT semifinals and NIT second round in that time span.
Leitao got Connecticut's run to the 1999 NCAA title off on the right foot when he filled in for head coach Jim Calhoun, who had taken ill prior to the game, in the 91-66 opening round win over Texas-San Antonio.

Demon Doings: Notes following DePaul's 95-90 loss in double overtime at Providence on Sunday.

The 95-90 double overtime loss drops DePaul's record to 1-1 and 0-1 in the BIG EAST… Providence is now 6-3 and 2-1 in league play.
Romeo Weems' three-pointer in the first half extended DePaul's streak to 840 straight games with at least one three.
Javon Freeman-Liberty and Charlie Moore both recorded their 50th career game in double figures.
Romeo Weems reached double figures for the 13th time in his career... Weems 21 points mark a career-high with a previous high of 19 against Georgetown on Feb. 22, 2020... Weems also recorded a career-best five three-point field goals with previous best of four made against Georgetown on Feb. 22, 2020.
The game was the 20th multi-overtime game in program history... the last double or triple overtime game was a 99-94 win at Butler in double overtime on Jan. 9, 2014.
The game was the 45th all-time matchup between the programs... Providence holds a 33-12 lead in the series... the two teams are scheduled to meet again on Feb. 13 at Wintrust Arena.
Sunday was the first BIG EAST game for Providence on campus at Alumni Hall.

Trendy: The 10 three-pointers in back-to-back games mark the first time with consecutive games with at least 10 three-pointers since the 2018-19 season... DePaul made 11 against Chicago State on Dec. 12 and 12 against UIC on Dec. 14... the last time the Blue Demons opened the season with at least 10 three-pointers in back-to-back games was the 2011-12 season... that included 12 against UT-Pan American and 10 against Mississippi Valley State... the Blue Demons made at least 10 three-pointers in two total games during the 2019-20 season.

The Opponent – Connecticut Huskies: Connecticut is 3-1 overall this season and 0-1 in BIG EAST play... the Huskies opened conference play on Dec. 20 with a 76-74 overtime loss against Creighton... that loss snapped a three-game win streak to start the season with wins over Central Connecticut, Hartford and USC... James Bouknight leads the team with 24.0 points per game and 11 three-pointers... R.J. Cole is averaging 11.3 points per outing while Isaiah Whaley adds 9.8 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game... head coach Dan Hurley is in his third season leading the Huskies.

The Series: Wednesday is the 12th all-time meeting between the two programs... Connecticut holds an 10-1 lead in the series... Wednesday is the first meeting since 2012-13 season... the Huskies posted an 81-69 decision at Allstate Arena on Feb. 23, 2013... Connecticut has won the last nine meetings... DePaul is 0-4 all-time in away games at Connecticut.

DePaul Travels to Connecticut for Wednesday Matchup

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Javon Freeman-Liberty

Charlie Moore

Romeo Weems

DePaul University Athletics

DePaul Travels to Connecticut for Wednesday Matchup

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Javon Freeman-Liberty

Charlie Moore

Romeo Weems

Related Videos