On Tuesday, No. 5 UConn (11-1, 1-0 Big East) opened Big East play with a 79-60 win over Butler. For the first time since Dec. 2’s thriller at Kansas, the Huskies will play a true road game, against the DePaul Blue Demons (8-4, 0-1 Big East) on Sunday afternoon.
DePaul has not fared well this season, as is no surprise given how long it would take to revive this program. Losing at home to Buffalo and Northwestern hurts but winning three of the last four games helps. That includes the Blue Demons’ best win, as they closed non-conference play with a 61-58 win at Wichita State.
DePaul began Big East play with a tough road game at Carnesecca Arena versus defending champion St. John’s.
In the game, the Blue Demons had four players in double figures, with Kaleb Banks recording a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double. Other players who scored 10 points or more include CJ Gunn (15), RJ Smith (13), and NJ Benson (11).
Banks, a Tulane transfer, has looked sharp from beyond the arc with 44% of his shots from deep going his way.
Gunn, a returning player, leads with 14.3 points per game (11th in Big East) on 44.9% shooting (8th in Big East).
Benson has served as one of the Blue Demons’ anchors on defense. He is a solid shot-blocker, ranking 11th in the league in blocks per game (1.08). He comes in as one of the Big East’s top rebounders, averaging 6.5 per game (7th in Big East). His two double-doubles rank fourth-most in the conference.
Despite the loss, DePaul held one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country to their lowest second-chance point total of the season. With Dan Hurley emphasizing the Huskies’ rebounding needing to improve, this category alone can provide a test for a team that has a higher rebounding ceiling than the stats show.
Another category that can hurt Connecticut is at the free-throw line. While DePaul shoots just 70.5% from the charity stripe (219th in the country), the Blue Demons are in the 88th percentile nationally in free-throw attempt rate (42.9%). This is a drastic improvement from Chris Holtmann’s first season as head coach, averaging 8.2 free-throw attempts more per contest.
However, the odds are not in the Blue Demons’ favor. DePaul has not beaten a top-25 team since Jan. 18, 2023, against No. 8 Xavier, and the last time it has beaten a top-5 team was against No. 5 Butler on Jan. 18, 2020.
Like UConn, DePaul ranks among the best teams in the country in sharing the ball. 66% of the team’s shots come off assists, good for 8th in the country. The Blue Demons average 17 assists per game, which ranks fourth in the Big East. Leading the way in that category is Layden Blocker, who averages 3.8 assists per game (8th in Big East).
Blocker also serves as the team’s other anchor on defense. His 2.0 steals per game rank second-best in the conference.
UConn has just one loss against DePaul in the series’ history. Since the first meeting in the second round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament (coached by former UConn assistant Dave Leitao), the Huskies have a 21-1 record against the Blue Demons.
The lone loss came on Jan. 31, 2007, at the old Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. Since then, Connecticut has won 20-straight in what has normally proved to be one of the easier games on the Huskies’ conference schedule.
That was not the case last year, however.
In the first meeting of the season, the Huskies opened the door for DePaul to make it a game after star freshman Liam McNeeley suffered a high-ankle sprain early in the second half. However, UConn’s resilience remained the deciding factor, as the Huskies pulled away with a 13-point win.
A few weeks later, UConn looked flat at times in the second meeting in Hartford, Conn. The Huskies trailed by as many as 14 points and trailed by eight at the midway point. A 14-0 run in the second half flipped the momentum as UConn won, 72-61.
That included Solo Ball scoring 14 of his 16 points in the second half. Speaking of momentum, Ball has a lot of that coming into Sunday afternoon. After a poor shooting start to the season, the 2024 national champion has shot 38.7% (12-of-31) from deep in December alone. Because of the ongoing momentum, Ball leads Connecticut in scoring, with 15.4 points per game.
Tip-off from the Wintrust Arena in Chicago on Sunday is set for 4:30 p.m. and will be available to watch on FS1.