DePaul will try to extend its winning streak to three games when it hosts Marquette on Wednesday night in Chicago.
Following a four-game losing streak, the Blue Demons (14-14, 5-13 Big East) have won back-to-back games after defeating St. John’s 99-94 on Sunday night.
DePaul put together an impressive shooting performance, going 33 of 59 (55.9 percent) from the field while hitting 26 of 38 free throws (68.4 percent).
DePaul’s Javon Freeman-Liberty led all scorers with a career-high 39 points on 14-of-21 shooting. He contributed eight rebounds and five steals, David Jones added 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Yor Anei chipped in 10 points off the bench.
“Javon had a great game, and you see it from a scoring standpoint, but he brings so much more to the table with his leadership, making plays for his teammates, setting them up and even doing a great job defensively,” coach Tony Stubblefield said. “He really wanted to guard (Julian) Champagnie (and) did a great job.”
Freeman-Liberty has been on a tear offensively, eclipsing the 20-point mark in seven of his past 10 games. His 21.7 points per game for the season lead the Big East among players who have appeared in at least 20 games.
Marquette (18-10, 10-7) also is coming off a win, defeating Butler 64-56 on Saturday. The Golden Eagles’ defense led to plenty of offense, as they scored 22 points off turnovers.
“I think when we settled in defensively in the second half, it was pretty good,” Marquette guard Darryl Morsell said. “They don’t really have no true big. All their bigs can space the floor and stretch the floor, so it’s a lot different than what we typically play.”
Morsell paced Marquette with 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Justin Lewis had 11 points and seven rebounds, Greg Elliott supplied seven points off the bench, and all 10 players who played scored.
The Golden Eagles will look to sweep the season series Wednesday after beating visiting DePaul 87-76 on Jan. 11. Elliott led the way, finishing with a career-high 25 points.
–Field Level Media
