DePaul Blue Demons (0-18, 8-23) at Cincinnati Bearcats (8-10, 18-13)
Big East Conference Tournament
Tuesday, Mar. 10—12:00 PM EST
Preview
The 2009 Big East Tournament kicks off the new format with No. 16 DePaul and No. 9 Cincinnati at noon.
This is the first year that all sixteen teams make it to the conference tournament, and if this wasn't the format the Big East winless Blue Demons would be sitting at home with their season over.
But this year is all about change. And helping the little guy. So even though the regular season is over and DePaul wasn't able to muster up a conference win, let's still take a look at the team.
DePaul has been disappointing by all standards—they entered conference play with an 8-5 record and have since lost every game they have played.
There was a lot of hope for the Blue Demons this season, though, as their two players from the All Big East Rookie Team—forward Dar Tucker and center Mac Koshwal—returned. Their backcourt is lead by junior guard Will Walker, who has improved this season across the board.
Unfortunately for the Blue Demons, that is where their talent ends. Stats drop off across the board, and they have shown the hoops world that it takes more than three players to compete.
In the preseason, it looked like the Bearcats were in trouble. Their only true point guard, freshman Cashmere Wright, went down in October with a torn ACL. Cincinnati proved that they have the ability persevere, though, and have been impressive on more than one occasion this season.
Recently, though, the Bearcats have been struggling—in their last six games, they are 1-5. But some of those losses have come against the best the Big East has to offer, including Louisville and Pitt.
The Bearcats pulled off multiple upsets this season: they defeated Georgetown twice, and knocked off West Virginia and Notre Dame one time a piece as well.
The Blue Demons and Bearcats faced each other once this season, and Cincinnati walked away with the 59-55 win. In that game, DePaul made a late surge to come back from a 16-point deficit.
As the Big East Tourament kicks off, the question now is will DePaul be able to get their first Big East win of the season?
By The Numbers
| Record | Conf | ATS | RPI | SOS | PF | PA | |
| DePaul | 8-23 | 0-18 | 8-17 | 208 | 74 | 63.9 | 72.6 |
| Cincinnati | 18-13 | 8-10 | 9-13-1 | 72 | 32 | 68.7 | 66.3 |
| FG% | D. FG% | 3P% | D. 3P% | FT% | RPG | SPG | APG | TPG | |
| DePaul | 40.4 | 46.1 | 29.0 | 35.8 | 61.7 | 37.8 | 6.8 | 11.3 | 12.5 |
| Cincinnati | 42.6 | 41.5 | 33.5 | 32.1 | 66.2 | 41.4 | 5.7 | 14.7 | 13.7 |
Stat Leaders
| DePaul | Cincinnati | |
| PPG | D. Tucker - 18.2 | D. Vaughn - 15.3 |
| W. Walker - 14.0 | Y. Gates - 10.7 | |
| M. Koshwal - 12.6 | M. Williams - 10.0 | |
| RPG | M. Koshwal - 9.8 | Y. Gates - 6.2 |
| APG | J. Kelly - 2.2 | D. Vaughn - 4.7 |
| SPG | W. Walker - 1.7 | D. Vaughn - 1.3 |
| BPG | D. Hill - 1.2 | Y. Gates - 1.0 |
Prediction
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