It’s been more than six years since DePaul won back-to-back Big East Conference road games. And even longer since winning a game at Butler.
The Blue Demons look to avoid a 10th overall defeat against the Bulldogs – and an 11th straight on the road — on Saturday in Indianapolis.
DePaul (10-10, 1-8) snapped a 39-game regular-season Big East losing streak with its 73-68 win at Georgetown on Jan. 17. That also ended a 24-game conference slide on the road, where it last won consecutive league contests Jan. 12 and 19, 2019.
However, the Blue Demons followed that with Tuesday’s 73-49 home loss to Creighton. They set season lows for points, field-goal percentage (30.2) and 3-point shooting (3-for-23).
DePaul shot 40 percent from distance while going 9-2 against a favorable nonconference slate, but just 31.6 percent during league play. Meanwhile, its Big East foes are averaging 80.9 points while shooting 49.3 percent overall and 40.6 percent from beyond the arc.
“There’s gonna be nights where you don’t make a lot of shots, but that can’t affect our defensive end,” Blue Demons guard Isaiah Rivera said. “It’s just gotta be a collective fight. … We gotta be better.”
DePaul’s CJ Gunn has averaged 17.2 points on 45.6 percent shooting in the last five contests.
DePaul last won at Butler (8-11, 1-7) on Jan. 9, 2014.
The Bulldogs’ lone league win this season came at home, 82-77 versus Seton Hall on Jan. 15. However, they’ve suffered three conference defeats by four or fewer points after falling 80-78 in overtime at No. 19 UConn on Tuesday.
Jahmyl Telfort scored 25 for the Bulldogs, who overcame an eight-point halftime hole to give the two-time reigning national champs a serious scare.
“(The objective) for us is where we are right now,” said Butler coach Thad Matta, whose squad is shooting 44.7 percent this season.
“We just got to keep getting better. … We’ve got to continue to just find ways.”
Telfort averages a team-high 15.7 points, but he scored 10 or fewer in three of the last four at home.
–Field Level Media
