Friday, November 26
Chicago, Ill.
4:00 P.M. CT
DePaul University
vs
Northern Kentucky
Blue Demons Welcome Northern Kentucky to Wintrust Arena on Friday
11/25/2021 1:37:00 PM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
Men's Basketball Ticket InformationWintrust Arena Gameday GuideMen's Basketball Media CenterMax Strus Returns to Wintrust Arena
DePaul looks for fifth straight win to open 2021-22 season
CHICAGO – DePaul looks for its second 5-0 start in three seasons as the Blue Demons host Northern Kentucky on Friday afternoon. The game is the second of three for DePaul in the Blue Demon Classic following a win over Western Illinois last Saturday and the third game set for Sunday against Eastern Michigan.
Friday's game can be seen on FS2 starting at 4 p.m. with Telly Hughes (play-by-play) and Brian Butch (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 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.
Northern Kentucky enters the game at 2-2 following a 69-67 loss against Western Illinois on Monday while DePaul is 4-0 after an 84-80 win against Western Illinois on Saturday.
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 had two home games. Eastern Michigan hosted one game against Western Illinois.
Demon Doings: Notes following DePaul's 84-80 win over Western Illinois on Saturday:
The Opponent – Northern Kentucky Norse: Northern Kentucky is 2-2 this season following a 69-67 loss against Western Illinois on Monday... the Norse posted wins over Wheeling (82-54) and Eastern Michigan (74-73) while dropping a 70-69 decision in overtime against UNC Greensboro... Trevon Faulkner leads the team with 13.3 points per game and 13 three-pointers... Hubertas Pivorius adds a scoring average of 11.8 while Adrian Nelson adds 9.8 points and a team-high 9.3 rebounds per game... head coach Darrin Horn is in his third season leading the Norse.
The Series: Friday is the first meeting between the programs.
Against the Horizon League: DePaul is 65-14 all-time against the current line-up of Horizon League programs... DePaul's most common Horizon opponent is Detroit Mercy... the Blue Demons hold a 29-7 record against the Titans... DePaul is also 14-1 against Milwaukee and 9-2 against UIC... the Blue Demons play at UIC on Dec. 14.
Trendy: The Blue Demons are ranked 10th nationally with a +13.5 rebounding margin and 12th in scoring offense at 88.2 points per game... DePaul holds a 10-point advantage per game at the free throw line this season... the Blue Demons have made 81 free throws while opponents have attempted 55 free throws... DePaul is 81-of-113 (.717) while the four opponents are a combined 40-for-55 (.727)... Javon Freeman-Liberty has played just over 94 percent of the minutes through four games... he has totaled 150:51 of time on the court of out a possible 160 minutes... Freeman-Liberty is ranked first or second in the BIG EAST in scoring (1st), defensive rebounds (1st), minutes (1st), assists (2nd), assist-to-turnover ratio (2nd), rebounding (tied-2nd) and steals (t2nd).
Freeman-Liberty Named BIG EAST Player of the Week Twice to Start Season: DePaul guard Javon Freeman-Liberty has been named BIG EAST Player of the Week in each of the first two weeks of the season. He is the first player to earn the league's weekly honor in consecutive weeks since Myles Powell in January 2020.
The Chicago native averaged 23.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 7.5 assists in the first week of the season that also included 15 assists in the two games with just one turnover. He opened the season with 25 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists (one turnover) in the opener against Coppin State while adding three steals. Against Central Michigan, Freeman-Liberty totaled 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists (zero turnovers) with two steals.
Freeman-Liberty continued his impressive start to the season by averaging 26.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game while playing all 80 minutes in week two.
He opened the week on with 19 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two assists against Rutgers before pouring in a career-high 33 points against Western Illinois with 11 rebounds, four assists and a steal. He tallied 27 of his 33 points in the second half.
In addition to his first two BIG EAST weekly honor, Freeman-Liberty was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week three times during the 2019-20 season while playing at Valparaiso.
Up Next: Game Six vs. Eastern Michigan (Blue Demon Classic)
Friday's game can be seen on FS2 starting at 4 p.m. with Telly Hughes (play-by-play) and Brian Butch (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 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.
Northern Kentucky enters the game at 2-2 following a 69-67 loss against Western Illinois on Monday while DePaul is 4-0 after an 84-80 win against Western Illinois on Saturday.
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 had two home games. Eastern Michigan hosted one game against Western Illinois.
Demon Doings: Notes following DePaul's 84-80 win over Western Illinois on Saturday:
- DePaul is now 30-6 against non-BIG EAST opponents in the last three-plus seasons.
- The win makes DePaul 4-0 to start the season for the fourth time since 1990... the 1990-91, 2002-03, 2008-09 and 2019-20 squads each started their seasons with four straight victories.
- The Blue Demons have started 4-0 under a first-year head coach for the first time since DePaul won its first four games under Dave Leitao during the 2002-03 season... DePaul went 4-0 to start that season.
- Javon Freeman-Liberty scored a career-high 33 points... previously he scored 32 while playing at Valparaiso against Cincinnati on Nov .25, 2019... Freeman-Liberty has scored at least 22 points in three of four games this season... he also scored 19 in the other game... the double-double was the fifth of Freeman-Liberty's career and second this season.
- Freeman-Liberty's 33 points is tied for third in Wintrust Arena history... he is tied with Max Strus' 33 points against Northwestern on Dec. 16, 2017... Strus holds the top four spots including an arena-record 43 points against St. John's on March 3, 2019.
- Brandon Johnson passed the 1,300-point and 800-rebound mark for his career.
- David Jones reached double figures for the fourth time in as many games this season.
- DePaul leads the series, 2-1... the Blue Demons are now 23-5 all-time against the current line up of Summit League programs.
The Opponent – Northern Kentucky Norse: Northern Kentucky is 2-2 this season following a 69-67 loss against Western Illinois on Monday... the Norse posted wins over Wheeling (82-54) and Eastern Michigan (74-73) while dropping a 70-69 decision in overtime against UNC Greensboro... Trevon Faulkner leads the team with 13.3 points per game and 13 three-pointers... Hubertas Pivorius adds a scoring average of 11.8 while Adrian Nelson adds 9.8 points and a team-high 9.3 rebounds per game... head coach Darrin Horn is in his third season leading the Norse.
The Series: Friday is the first meeting between the programs.
Against the Horizon League: DePaul is 65-14 all-time against the current line-up of Horizon League programs... DePaul's most common Horizon opponent is Detroit Mercy... the Blue Demons hold a 29-7 record against the Titans... DePaul is also 14-1 against Milwaukee and 9-2 against UIC... the Blue Demons play at UIC on Dec. 14.
Trendy: The Blue Demons are ranked 10th nationally with a +13.5 rebounding margin and 12th in scoring offense at 88.2 points per game... DePaul holds a 10-point advantage per game at the free throw line this season... the Blue Demons have made 81 free throws while opponents have attempted 55 free throws... DePaul is 81-of-113 (.717) while the four opponents are a combined 40-for-55 (.727)... Javon Freeman-Liberty has played just over 94 percent of the minutes through four games... he has totaled 150:51 of time on the court of out a possible 160 minutes... Freeman-Liberty is ranked first or second in the BIG EAST in scoring (1st), defensive rebounds (1st), minutes (1st), assists (2nd), assist-to-turnover ratio (2nd), rebounding (tied-2nd) and steals (t2nd).
Freeman-Liberty Named BIG EAST Player of the Week Twice to Start Season: DePaul guard Javon Freeman-Liberty has been named BIG EAST Player of the Week in each of the first two weeks of the season. He is the first player to earn the league's weekly honor in consecutive weeks since Myles Powell in January 2020.
The Chicago native averaged 23.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 7.5 assists in the first week of the season that also included 15 assists in the two games with just one turnover. He opened the season with 25 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists (one turnover) in the opener against Coppin State while adding three steals. Against Central Michigan, Freeman-Liberty totaled 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists (zero turnovers) with two steals.
Freeman-Liberty continued his impressive start to the season by averaging 26.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game while playing all 80 minutes in week two.
He opened the week on with 19 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two assists against Rutgers before pouring in a career-high 33 points against Western Illinois with 11 rebounds, four assists and a steal. He tallied 27 of his 33 points in the second half.
In addition to his first two BIG EAST weekly honor, Freeman-Liberty was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week three times during the 2019-20 season while playing at Valparaiso.
Up Next: Game Six vs. Eastern Michigan (Blue Demon Classic)
- DePaul hosts Eastern Michigan on Sunday, Nov. 28... the game is the third of three in the Blue Demon Classic... it will be televised on FS1 at 1 p.m. with radio coverage on WSCR (670 AM).
- The Eagles are 2-3 following a 72-68 win over Western Illinois on Wednesday... Eastern Michigan also posted a win over Illinois State (103-98) and dropped games at Indiana (68-62), Northern Kentucky (74-73) and Michigan State (83-59).
- DePaul and Eastern Michigan meet for the first time since the 1979-80 season... the Blue Demons are 4-0 all-time against the Eagles... the last meeting was a 57-55 decision at Eastern Michigan on Dec. 19, 1979.
- The Eagles went 6-12 overall last season and 3-11 in the MAC.
- Head coach Stan Heath is in his first season leading the Eastern Michigan program in 2021-22.
Players Mentioned
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