Saturday, November 20
Chicago, Ill.
7:00 P.M. CT
DePaul University
vs
Western Illinois
Men's Basketball Returns to Wintrust Arena for Saturday Night Game Against Western Illinois
11/19/2021 5:54:00 PM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
Blue Demons and Leathernecks meet at 7 p.m. in the South Loop
CHICAGO – Winners of three straight to open the 2021-22 season, DePaul is set for three consecutive matchups over eight days in the Blue Demon Classic. The Blue Demons host Western Illinois on Saturday night before Northern Kentucky and Eastern Michigan visit Wintrust Arena next weekend.
Saturday's game can be seen on FS2 starting at 7 p.m. with Jason Ross Jr. (play-by-play) and Dickey Simpkins (analyst) handling the broadcast duties. The game can also be seen online at foxsports.com/live. DePaul's radio tandem of Zach Zaidman (play-by-play) and Jeff Blanzy (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.
Western Illinois enters the game at 3-0 after posting consecutive wins over Nebraska, Culver-Stockton and Iowa Wesleyan while DePaul is also 2-0 after victories over Coppin State, Central Michigan and Rutgers.
Blue Demon Classic Set for Thanksgiving Week: DePaul is hosting three games this week in a multi-team event. The Blue Demon Classic features a round-robin format with DePaul, Eastern Michigan, Northern Kentucky and Western Illinois.
The Blue Demons are hosting three games while Northern Kentucky has two home games. Eastern Michigan will host one game against Western Illinois.
Demon Doings: Notes following DePaul's 73-70 win over Rutgers on Thursday:
The Opponent – Western Illinois Leathernecks: Western Illinois is 3-0 this season following a 97-71 win against Iowa Wesleyan on Tuesday... the Leathernecks also defeated Nebraska (75-74) and Culver-Stockton (91-69) this season... Will Carius leads the team with 15.3 points per game... Luka Barisic adds a scoring average of 13.3 with a team-high 6.7 rebounds per game... Colton Sandage adds 12.0 points per game while Trenton Massner has a scoring average of 11.7... head coach Rob Jeter is in his second season leading the Leathernecks.
The Series: Saturday is just the third all-time meeting between the programs... the series is tied at 1-1... DePaul won last season, 91-72, on Dec. 23 at Wintrust Arena.
Against the Summit League: DePaul is 22-5 all-time against the current line-up of Summit League programs... Western Illinois holds the last two meetings for DePaul against a league opponent... the Blue Demons are 8-3 all-time against North Dakota and 5-1 against St. Thomas... DePaul and St. Thomas played between 1924-38... DePaul is also 2-0 against Denver, Omaha and Oral Roberts and hold a win over South Dakota and South Dakota State.
Saturday's game can be seen on FS2 starting at 7 p.m. with Jason Ross Jr. (play-by-play) and Dickey Simpkins (analyst) handling the broadcast duties. The game can also be seen online at foxsports.com/live. DePaul's radio tandem of Zach Zaidman (play-by-play) and Jeff Blanzy (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.
Western Illinois enters the game at 3-0 after posting consecutive wins over Nebraska, Culver-Stockton and Iowa Wesleyan while DePaul is also 2-0 after victories over Coppin State, Central Michigan and Rutgers.
Blue Demon Classic Set for Thanksgiving Week: DePaul is hosting three games this week in a multi-team event. The Blue Demon Classic features a round-robin format with DePaul, Eastern Michigan, Northern Kentucky and Western Illinois.
The Blue Demons are hosting three games while Northern Kentucky has two home games. Eastern Michigan will host one game against Western Illinois.
Demon Doings: Notes following DePaul's 73-70 win over Rutgers on Thursday:
- DePaul is now 29-6 against non-BIG EAST opponents in the last three-plus seasons.
- DePaul has started 3-0 for the first time since the 2019-20 season... the Blue Demons posted wins over Alcorn State, Chicago and Fairleigh Dickinson that season.
- The Blue Demons have started 3-0 under a first-year head coach for the first time since DePaul won its first three games under Dave Leitao during the 2002-03 season... DePaul went 4-0 to start that season.
- DePaul is 3-3 all-time in the Gavitt Tipoff Games... the Blue Demons have now won three straight in the series... overall against Big Ten opponents, DePaul has won five of its last six contests.
- David Jones totaled 22 points on a 4-of-6 clip from distance... Jones has now posted a pair of 20-plus point performances and is averaging 20.3 points per game this season... Jones' four triples were a career high.
- While dropping in 19 points, Javon Freeman-Liberty also grabbed nine rebounds and three steals... Freeman-Liberty has now recorded multiple steals in three straight games for the first time during his career at DePaul.
- Freeman-Liberty played the entire ballgame, marking the first time he's played all 40 minutes since Jan. 26, 2019 in a Valparaiso matchup against Drake.
- Brandon Johnson stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, 13 rebounds and three assists...the 13 boards were his most in a single game since he hauled in 16 on Dec. 7, 2019 during his stint at Western Michigan.
- With the DePaul win, the Blue Demons cut the Rutgers lead in the series to 7-5.
- DePaul is now 90-82 all-time against the current configuration of Big Ten Conference programs... the Blue Demons have won five of their last six games against Big Ten opponents.
The Opponent – Western Illinois Leathernecks: Western Illinois is 3-0 this season following a 97-71 win against Iowa Wesleyan on Tuesday... the Leathernecks also defeated Nebraska (75-74) and Culver-Stockton (91-69) this season... Will Carius leads the team with 15.3 points per game... Luka Barisic adds a scoring average of 13.3 with a team-high 6.7 rebounds per game... Colton Sandage adds 12.0 points per game while Trenton Massner has a scoring average of 11.7... head coach Rob Jeter is in his second season leading the Leathernecks.
The Series: Saturday is just the third all-time meeting between the programs... the series is tied at 1-1... DePaul won last season, 91-72, on Dec. 23 at Wintrust Arena.
Against the Summit League: DePaul is 22-5 all-time against the current line-up of Summit League programs... Western Illinois holds the last two meetings for DePaul against a league opponent... the Blue Demons are 8-3 all-time against North Dakota and 5-1 against St. Thomas... DePaul and St. Thomas played between 1924-38... DePaul is also 2-0 against Denver, Omaha and Oral Roberts and hold a win over South Dakota and South Dakota State.
Players Mentioned
G
/ MEN'S BASKETBALL
F
/ MEN'S BASKETBALL
F
/ MEN'S BASKETBALLDeWayne Peevy and Chris Holtmann Media Availability - 7/22
Thursday, July 31
Media Availability: DeWayne Peevy and Chris Holtmann
Tuesday, July 22
Episode 22: NJ Benson, Men's Basketball
Thursday, June 05
College Basketball Crown Postgame Press Conference
Tuesday, April 01