Femi Olujobi, DePaul

We preview the Big East conference battle between the DePaul Blue Demons and the Creighton Bluejays in Omaha on Saturday night in this report.

Key Information

DePaul Blue Demons (15-13, 7-10) vs. Creighton Bluejays (17-13, 8-9) – Saturday, March 9th, 2019, 7:00 p.m. Central – CHI Health Center – Omaha, Nebraska

How to Watch - Television – FOX Sports 1

Where to Listen - Radio – WSCR AM 670

Follow @WeAreDePaul on Twitter

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Game Preview

The Blue Demons are on a roll and in their own way have created some March Madness for their fans. DePaul is undefeated in the month of March so far.

The Big East conference has been wild and woolly this season. With just one day of games remaining, the league standings are still undetermined.

With a win over Creighton on Saturday night and few breaks on other games, the Demons could finish as high as fourth place in the league.

DePaul is riding a two game winning streak heading into Saturday’s conference finale and are coming off a 101-69 obliteration of Georgetown on Wednesday night.

Max Strus and his fellow seniors seem determined to go out strong in their senior seasons. In the last three games, Strus is averaging 32.7 points per game.

DePaul will need another big performance now that they to head out on the road for the last Big East game of he regular season to Omaha. Creighton always has a strong homecourt especially when playing on a Saturday night in Omaha.

If DePaul is hot right now, then Creighton is hotter. The Bluejays are a streaky team. After losing four straight games in February, they have now won the last four straight games, including a 66-60 win at 10th ranked Marquette.

The Demons will need some help from the officials in this game, which is something they didn’t get in the last game vs. Creighton

In that first meeting, DePaul big men Femi Olujobi and Paul Reed spent much of the game in foul trouble. Reed played only 19 minutes and was held to two points. Olujobi was only able to play for 16 minutes. They will both be needed on the floor to stand a chance of beating the Bluejays at home where they are 10-6 this season.

Saturday will be Creighton’s Senior Day where seniors Connor Cashaw and Kaleb Joseph will be recognized. The Bluejays are 21-2 on the last 23 Senior Day’s.

Creighton is the second best offensive team in the Big East, scoring an average of 78.9 points per game. The also shoot a league-best 48.2 percent from the field.

Defensively though, they are last in the Big East in Field Goal Percent Defense giving up 45.8 percent shooting per game.

Yet in the last meeting with DePaul Creighton managed to get Olujobi and Reed in foul trouble and keyed their defense on Strus and Eli Cain. They sagged off of guards Devin Gage, who shot poorly, and Flynn Cameron, who scored a career high of 11 points.

The Bluejays boast five players who score in double-figures.

Sophomore wing Ty-Shon Alexander leads the way with 16.3 points per game and is ninth in the Big East in scoring. Many consider Alexander to be the favorite for most improved player in the Big East. He averaged just 5.5 points as a freshman.

Junior big man Martin Krampelj scores 13.3 ppg and leads the team in rebounding at 6.8 boards per game. He leads the team in steals and blocks as well. Freshman guard Marcus Zegarowski contributes 10.6 ppg, while junior point guard Davion Mintz chips in with 10.1 ppg and sophomore wing Mitch Ballock adds 10 ppg.

Creighton is 49th in the nation in Ken Pomeroy’s College Basketball Ratings, as of this writing. Meanwhile DePaul is number 99 at Kenpom.com. In the NCAA’s NET rankings, Creighton is ranked 52nd, while DePaul is at number 100.

Gambling Info.

The Blue Demons are 15-13 Against the Spread thus far this season.

Creighton is favored by 7.5 points.

The over/ under is 152.

The Last Time

On February 20, 2019 at Wintrust Arena, foul trouble offset game-highs by a DePaul senior and a career-high by a freshman.

Max Strus had game-highs of 18 points and eight rebounds and Flynn Cameron scored a career-high 11 points, but the Blue Demons fell to Creighton 79-67 at Wintrust Arena.

DePaul is the only team in the conference to have three players in the Top 15 in field goal percentage in Femi Olujobi, Jaylen Butz, and Paul Reed. But Olujobi picked up his third foul at 5:11 of the first half, with the game tied at 25. Reed finished with three fouls and played just under 19 minutes.

Olujobi nonetheless finished with 10 points, his 13th straight game of double-figure scoring. He is No. 3 all-time for field goal percentage in a single season at DePaul at 62.8, and he shot 4-4 from the floor tonight.

The game started off slow, with the teams going a combined 5:10 without scoring, and shooting a combined 4-15 from the field, including one of their last 11 attempts until DePaul’s Eli Cain broke that spell with a layup.

Cain finished with 14 points and a team-high four assists. He moved into 12th all-time in scoring at DePaul and into 17th place in made free throws.

Strus reached the 2,000-point plateau in his combined career at Lewis University and at DePaul.

Cameron shot 4-4 from the field, including 3-3 from behind the arc in the first half, but a long 3-pointer by Creighton’s Ty-Shon Alexander gave the Blue Jays a 41-30 lead at the break, the largest lead by either team in that half.

Creighton was last in the conference in 3-point field goal defense percentage at 37.6, and DePaul took advantage of that, shooting 46.2 percent (12-26).

The Bluejays led 56-44 with 11:53 to play before back-to-back 3-pointers by Devin Gage and Olujobi cut the lead to 58-50. Gage’s 3-pointer further cut the lead to 58-55, but DePaul got no closer the rest of the way.

Creighton Roster

Davion Mintz 1 Davion Mintz G 6-3 185 Jr. Charlotte, N.C. / North Mecklenburg

Connor Cashaw 2 Connor Cashaw G 6-5 200 Sr. Lincolnshire, Ill. / Stevenson Rice

Ty-Shon Alexander 5 Ty-Shon Alexander G 6-4 195 So. Charlotte, N.C. / Oak Hill Academy

Jett Canfield 10 Jett Canfield G 5-10 155 Fr. Topeka, Kan. / Hayden Catholic

Marcus Zegarowski 11 Marcus Zegarowski G 6-2 180 Fr. Hamilton, Mass. / Tilton School

Jordan Scurry 12 Jordan Scurry G 6-2 200 Jr. Dedham, Mass. / St. Mark's School

Christian Bishop 13 Christian Bishop F 6-7 205 Fr. Lee's Summit, Mo. / West

Kaleb Joseph 14 Kaleb Joseph G 6-3 185 Sr. Nashua, N.H. / Cushing Academy Syracuse

Martin Krampelj 15 Martin Krampelj F 6-9 235 Jr. Grosuplje, Slovenia / Impact Academy

Damien Jefferson 23 Damien Jefferson G/F 6-5 200 So. East Chicago, Ind. / Central New Mexico

Mitch Ballock 24 Mitch Ballock G 6-5 205 So. Eudora, Kan. / Eudora

Samson Froling 31 Samson Froling C 7-0 230 Fr. Townsville, Australia / Australian Institute of Sport

Denzel Mahoney 34 Denzel Mahoney G 6-5 225 Jr. Oviedo, Fla. / Hagerty Southeast Missouri State

Jacob Epperson 41 Jacob Epperson C 6-11 225 So. Melbourne, Australia / La Lumiere