Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Skip navigation

GAME THREAD: FAU vs. DePaul - 12/12/13 @ 9:00 PM

Add topic

Post




What: FAU (3-6) vs DePaul (4-4)

When: Thursday, December 12th @ 9:00 PM

Where: Allstate Arena

DePaul Team Site: Here


TV: Fox Sports 1

Live Video: None

Radio: ESPN 106.3

Internet Broadcast Info

Live Stats: Here


Probable Starters:


DePaul

G Brandon Young 16.3 ppg
G Billy Garrett 9.3 ppg
F Cleveland Melvin 16.1 ppg
F Sandi Marcius 5.0 ppg
C Tommy Hamilton 11.3 ppg


FAU

G Marquan Botley 5.8 ppg
G Jackson Trapp 10.6 ppg
G Pablo Bretone 18.9 ppg
F Kelvin Penn 5.1 ppg
C Dragan Sekelja 7.9 ppg


The series: Thursday will be the second meeting. The Owls trail 0-1.

12/22/10 A L 62-71



DePaul at a Glance


DePaul will host FAU after a week off, likely finishing up finals and getting healthy.

The Blue Demons, who were picked to finish last in the Big East this year, are sitting on a 4-4 record only giving away the expected losses, notably to no. 8 Wichita State and Conference USA leader Southern Miss.

The Blue Demons are coming off a 22-point loss to Arizona State, in which the teams leading scorer Brandon Young (53.2% FG, 16.3 ppg) did not play due to an ankle injury during the squads win over Oregon State.

The loss of Young has left DePaul’s offense anemic, leaving the bulk of the scoring to senior forward Cleveland Melvin (48.9% FG, 16.1 ppg). Though Melvin’s scoring ability is not limited to the post, the senior is active beyond the arc leading his team with 53.3% 3PT.

Despite Melvin’s talents, the Blue Demon’s assists, steals, and turnovers belong to Young. The guard is probable this Thursday.

DePaul also finds support in its freshman class. New big man Tommy Hamilton IV is 3rd in the team’s points per game with 11.3 and has become prominent in the post averaging 4.3 boards a game. Hamilton plays a smarter game than most young players; the freshman posted a double-double in his first game as a Blue Demon against Grambling State.

Another freshman to watch is guard Billy Garrett Jr. Highly decorated recruit out of high school, Garrett is the son of a DePaul assistant coach. The unit’s new backcourt threat is slowly transitioning into a more prominent role. Overshadowed by senior Brandon Young, Garrett Jr. is progressing through the year and looking to step into a lead role next season. The freshman averages 9.3 ppg and leads the Blue Demons in free throws.

The Blue Demons have yet to put up a notable win, with their only victories coming over Grambling State (96-58), Wright State (81-72), Milwaukee  (80-71), and Oregon State (93-81). The team is looking to pick up as many wins as they can during the next couple weeks due to a difficult conference schedule.



FAU at a Glance


The Owls travel to Chicago Thursday after stringing together a two game win streak against instate opponents UCF and Jacksonville.

Senior guard Pablo Bertone returns to Chicago, being the only player on this team to have played against DePaul back when he was a freshman.

Bertone is reigning Conference USA player of the week after putting up impressive numbers in the Owls past two wins. The senior now holds an average of 18.9 points per game to go with 1.9 assists.

Against Jacksonville FAU had four players with double-digit points, a first for the season. Owls head coach Mike Jarvis has put an emphasis on team scoring in recent weeks, and it finally showed against Jacksonville.

“Pablo will probably be our leading scorer in most the games we play, but I think we are a pretty balanced team, we have a lot of guys who can score, and guys that can score in many different ways.”

Signs of life were spotted from center Dragan Sekelja, who put up 9 against the Dolphins, his most points in a game since Stony Brook when he put up 9 points and a career high 17 rebounds.

Freshman guard D’Andre Johnson returns to the Midwest after posting a career high 10 points. The development of the Owls two guards has improved in recent weeks with Marquan Botley scoring 11 against UCF and sealing the win with a steal and score in the final minutes of the second period.

After a rough night at the charity stripe against UCF in which the squad shot under 50%, the Owls came out and shot 70.3% against Jacksonville, which resulted in 18 points.

“I do not know how much importance players put into free throw shooting. With the exception of a few schools no one is shooting particular well at the line", Jarvis said. "If one of our guys goes up and misses the chances all the guys behind him will do the same. I think we should be shooting 70% every time we play.”

Although the majority of FAU’s scoring comes from the backcourt, dominance in the post is a necessity against the Blue Demons. Though that may be a more daunting task than anticipated with DePaul’s frontcourt averaging 6’9”, despite the fact they only average 34.4 rebounds a game.

“They [DePaul] are really good at home, they’re talented, they play in a tough conference, and they recruit a lot of quality players. So, you are talking about going in and playing a very talented team on their own home court - will be difficult.”


Latest Line

DePaul -12.5


Owls Nest Prediction

The Owls have played well the past two games and last game against Jacksonville showed that the team can score outside of just Pablo Bertone. Although the Owls are 0-6 on the road this year, we do no think it will be enough to stop the Blue Demons.


DePaul -11+


I love dropkicks and fat guy touchdowns.

Twitter: @jakobsansom
Back to the top

Post

Heard Dragan is out tonight (knee)…

Jarvis didn't mention anything when asked about his Jacksonville performance.

I love dropkicks and fat guy touchdowns.

Twitter: @jakobsansom
Back to the top

Post


I love dropkicks and fat guy touchdowns.

Twitter: @jakobsansom
Back to the top

Post

Tonight's Starters:


DePaul

G Brandon Young
G Billy Garrett
F Cleveland Melvin
F Sandi Marcius
C Tommy Hamilton


FAU

G Marquan Botley
G Jackson Trapp
G Pablo Bretone
F Kelvin Penn
C Justing Raffington

Raffington replaces Sekelja (knee)…

Lets see what the German can do.

I love dropkicks and fat guy touchdowns.

Twitter: @jakobsansom
Back to the top

Post

And we are off…

Trapp for 3 puts the Owls on the board.

I love dropkicks and fat guy touchdowns.

Twitter: @jakobsansom
Back to the top

Post

Trapp for 3!!

That is his 2nd 3 in two minutes

I love dropkicks and fat guy touchdowns.

Twitter: @jakobsansom
Back to the top

Post

Owls having a rough time on the glass.

Raffington needs to get a little aggressive on Defense.

I love dropkicks and fat guy touchdowns.

Twitter: @jakobsansom
Back to the top

Post

Media Stop

15:47

FAU 11  DePaul 9

7 lead changes in this game already…

Jackson Trapp has a pair of 3's

I love dropkicks and fat guy touchdowns.

Twitter: @jakobsansom
Back to the top

Post

jakesansom said

Owls having a rough time on the glass.

Raffington needs to get a little aggressive on Defense.
Posted On: Dec 12th 2013, 9:17 PM #324074

Wake me up, but did he HIT a free throw??

:Laughing:

(all in fun)
Back to the top

Post

Owls are working the offensive glass well tonight.


I love dropkicks and fat guy touchdowns.

Twitter: @jakobsansom
Back to the top
Control functions: