No. 6 UConn Huskies DePaul Blue Demons
19-2 (10-0) 11-11 (6-3)
Wednesday, January 29th 2025
Time: 7:00 PM
Wintrust Arena
Chicago, Il.
TV: SNY
Web: Foxsports.com/live
Prior Meetings
DEPAUL | UCONN LEADS 25-1
H: 10-0 | A: 11-0 | N: 4-1
12/28/83 DePaul 70, UConn 64 Coral Gables, Fla.
01/28/06 #5 UConn 84, #12 DePaul 75 Chicago, Ill.
03/06/06 #8 UConn 69, #15 DePaul 57 Hartford, Conn.
01/24/07 #7 UConn 88, DePaul 76 Storrs, Conn.
03/01/08 #1 UConn 77, DePaul 76 Chicago, Ill.
03/09/08 #1 UConn 86, DePaul 67 Hartford, Conn.
01/13/09 #1 UConn 77, DePaul 62 Storrs, Conn.
02/10/10 #1 UConn 95, DePaul 62 Chicago, Ill.
02/05/11 #2 UConn 89, #9 DePaul 66 Storrs, Conn.
01/21/12 #3 UConn 88, #21 DePaul 44 Chicago, Ill.
02/10/13 #3 UConn 91, DePaul 44 Storrs, Conn.
03/10/13 #3 UConn 94, DePaul 61 Hartford, Conn.
12/19/14 #2 UConn 98, #29 DePaul 64 Bridgeport, Conn.
12/02/15 #1 UConn 86, #18 DePaul 70 Chicago, Ill.
12/01/16 #2 UConn 91, #15 DePaul 46 Storrs, Conn.
12/08/17 #1 UConn 103, DePaul 69 Chicago, Ill.
11/28/18 #2 UConn 99, #16 DePaul 63 Hartford, Conn.
12/16/19 #2 UConn 84, #16 DePaul 74 Chicago, Ill.
12/29/20 #4 UConn 75, #18 DePaul 52 Storrs, Conn.
01/31/21 #3 UConn 100, #17 DePaul 62 Chicago, Ill.
01/26/22 #10 UConn 80, DePaul 78 Chicago, Ill.
02/11/22 #8 UConn 84, DePaul 60 Storrs, Conn.
01/23/23 #5 UConn 94, DePaul 51 Storrs, Conn.
02/25/23 #4 UConn 72, DePaul 69 Chicago, Ill.
01/20/24 #9 UConn 88, DePaul 51 Storrs, Conn.
02/25/24 #15 UConn 104, DePaul 67 Chicago, Ill.
DePaul Season to Date
DePaul is having another down season. As you will see in the game analysis, there are many new players on the teams. DePaul was busy in the transfer portal. It hasn't been very successful.
In their out of conference schedule they were 5-8. Their only wins were against the "cupcakes" in their schedule. They beat Mercyhurst 74-53, Loyola Chicago 75-60, SIU Edwardsville 66-42, UIC 73-56 and Southern 76-64. All expected wins.
They lost to four teams they could have beaten losing to Princeton 79-58, Green Bay 70-57, Northwestern 64-56 and UNLV 80-61. Not a close game between them.
The other four OOC losses were against teams that were ranked at the time they played. They lost to at the time No. 4 Texas 91-61, at the time No. 8 Oklahoma 85-62, at the time No. 9 Kansas State 92-66 and at the time No. 24 Michigan State 89-61. All blowouts.
They have had much better success against the weak sister Big East teams. They won 4 of their first 5 conference games beating Butler 66-43, Xavier 65-60, St. John's 67-60 and Providence 62-56 only losing to Marquette 78-59.
Since that stretch they lost to Villanova 66-55 and Creighton 92-71 before winning their second games against Xavier 57-50 and Butler in overtime 74-67 .
Comparative Team Statistics
(leader in bold)
UConn DePaul
80.0 PPG 64.6
51.3 Defensive PPG 68.0
28.7 Scoring Margin -3.4
51.1 Field Goal % 38.5
35.3 Defensive FG% 44.3
36.5 Three Point % 29.1
30.1 Defensive 3PT% 31.7
73.1 Free Throw % 75.5
36.6 Rebounds/game 36.9
5.9 Rebounding Margin .5
21.5 Assists per game 15.6
10.6 Turnover per game 16.1
2.0 Assists/TO ratio 1.0
11.1 Steals per game 7.6
3.4 Blocks per game 2.2
UCONN
The player and coaches names for both teams
are clickable to see their Bios
are clickable to see their Bios
UConn Starters
UConn Injuries
(In order of expected return)
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DEPAUL
DePaul Starters
Using Covid Year
Transfer from Pearl River CC
Transfer from Alabama
I used to write the same analysis every time for this match up. "DePaul does what they usually do in scoring a lot of points averaging almost 90 points per game, shooting amd making a lot of three point shots......."
Like the past two seasons this is just not the same DePaul team. Scoring only 64 PPG and shooting only 38.4% from the field and 29.3% on threes, this team struggles to score. Those numbers are even worse than last season before UConn and DePaul met.
Coach Bruno is still on sick leave but I'm sure Interim Coach Pizzotti realizes his teams only chance to make a game of it is to make a lot of threes. However, this version of DePaul does not take a lot of threes, averaging 18 takes per game. And as I said this season they are hitting at a weak 29.3%.
Usually DePaul is one of the best passing teams in the country. They always average 20+ assists per game. But this season is different only averaging 15.7 APG. Under Coach Bruno the team has been an excellent offensive team and his players usually do a great job valuing the ball. This season they have turned the ball over 16.2 times per game. The Assist/Turnover ratio is weaker than usual. They really miss Coach Bruno.
The question for DePaul is twofold. Can they hit their three point shots at a high percentage against UConn? Can they find a way to play enough defense to keep UConn under 80? It's the same question I asked the last four years and DePaul failed in both aspects except for the second game two seasons ago (72-69 UConn win).
It almost goes with saying but UConn's defense will still have to work hard in preventing open threes even if they aren't shooting as well as years past. DePaul seems to find that open player with the extra pass. They just don't shoot them well enough. UConn is the best at closing in on the open shooter with their amazing switching defense and their advantage with their length. However, it's certain that DePaul will get some open looks. If they hit them at a high rate, DePaul can certainly make it tough on the Huskies but I don't see how they can slow down the UConn offense.
UConn usually likes a fast pace, so it will be interesting to see if they still want to do that with a team that scores so quickly like DePaul and with UConn only going 7 deep. However, DePaul will probably only play 6-7 players in the rotation.
Jorie Allen, a 6' grad student forward, is a transfer from Indiana. She leads the team in scoring at 18.8 PPG and had 34 in her last game a against Butler. She also leads the team in assists with 4.1 per game. She leads the team in steals, tied for the most blocks, and is second in rebounding at 6.2 RPG. She is a do it all forward for the Blue Deamons.
Taylor Johnson-Matthews is a 5'9" Junior guard who transferred in from Pearl River CC. Second on the team in scoring at 14.4 PPG, she is the best and most prolific three point shooter on the team. She is shooting them at 36.7% and by far take the most with 97 on the season.
Meg Newman is a 6'2" Red Shirt Junior forward who transferred in from Aabama. Averaging 8.1 PPG Meg leads the team in rebounding at 7.8 RPG. She is shooting 44.6% from the field.
Shakara McCline is a 5'6" sophomore guard. The best thing I can say about her is that she has a positive assist/turnover ration of 32/27. But the rest of her numbers are not very good. Averaging 4.6 PPG and 2.2 RPG. She is shooting a weak 33.1% from the field and 22.2% on threes.
6'1" Sophomore guard Kate Clarke is the last starter. Originally a Michigan transfer, this is only her fourth game this year coming back from injury. She is started the last two and has become a solid contributor. The only other player scoring double digits at 10.8 PPG, she has really helped the Blue Demons since starting.
Two 5'8" guards, sophomore Summer Lee and red shirt sophomore Haley Walker come off the bench. They don't contribute much statistically but help give the starters a rest.
The Huskies have a size advantage as DePaul starts players going 5'6", 5'9", 6', 6'1" amd 6'2" and brings only two players off the bench, 5'8" and 5'8". They will run off DePaul misses and I expect there to be enough of those to allow UConn so score plenty of points. Could be another big game for Strong. Not a tough prediction..lol.
I expect that Paige will get off the shnide early in this one after a weak first half in the last one. Geno will remind her to do that.
The Huskies are just too quick and talented for this version of DePaul.
Final Prediction
After a loss in their first meeting ever in 1983, UConn has won the last 25 games in a rivalry that started in 2006. In their first 4 meeting since 2006 UConn won by an average of 8 PPG with one really close game won in the last second by the Huskies. Since then UConn has won the last 16 games by an average of 30 PPG.
This one would be one of the biggest mismatched in the series between the two teams. It's another game against a smaller opponent. I know that there are fans that think they should just pound it inside because of the size advantage. However, if you have watched Geno long enough you should know that is not how he handles a smaller team. He figures that his smaller lineup is way better than DePaul's lineup. No doubt about that.
Bottom line, UConn has too much firepower for DePaul to handle.
UConn by 40+
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