DePaul Vs. UIC Preview

The Blue Demons will face their first road test of the season this Saturday night against the in-state rival UIC Flames.  DePaul looks to improve on their 3-9 road record from a season ago.  The Flames come into this game with a record of 1-1 after winning their home opener Wednesday night against Northern Iowa by the score of 84-77.  The Blue Demons enter the game with a record of 1-0 after defeating the Albany Great Danes 75-64 Monday night at McGrath Arena.  These two teams met last season at the Allstate Arena, and the Flames were victorious by a score of 85-80.  DePaul holds the all-time series advantage 2-1.

The Flames enter the 2008-2009 season with its three leading scorers all returning from a season ago: guards Josh Mayo and Robert “Robo” Kreps, and center Scott VanderMeer.  Senior Josh Mayo is the player that UIC leans on to be the leader of their team.  Mayo has found a way to improve his game each year since he has been at UIC.   Mayo has improved his three point shooting each season and is now one of the best three point shooters in the nation, shooting an impressive 47% from beyond the arc last season.  He is not only limited to three point shooting, though.  Over the past year, Mayo has been able to get to the free throw line at a greater frequency, where he is a career 85% shooter.  “Robo” Kreps enters his sophomore campaign

starting next to Mayo in the backcourt after a very impressive freshman season.  Kreps played in all 33 games last season, starting two, and shot a very impressive 46% from three point range.  Kreps had some trouble as a distributor last season (45 assists, 40 turnovers), but has started this season with 6 assists and no turnovers in his first two games.  Senior Scott VanderMeer is a true 7 footer who started off his college career at Bowling Green State under Dan Dakich before transferring to UIC prior to the 2005-2006 season.  VanderMeer is a threat for a double-double each time he steps on the floor.  He is an intimidating interior defender as well, blocking nearly three shots a game during his career with the Flames.  Junior-College transfer Robert Eppinger and Texas Tech transfer Jeremy Buttell provide the Flames with some needed size next to Vandermeer.  Junior Guard Spencer Stewart is 6-4 and led the Flames in assists per game last season.  He may be able to log a lot of minutes as the team lacks a true point guard.

As DePaul tries to work in a lot of new faces, sophomores Dar Tucker and Mac Koshwal, and junior guard Will Walker are being looked upon to carry a heavy load.  Dar Tucker is taking on an even bigger role this season and must help replace the 17 points per game lost by the departure of Draelon Burns.  Tucker is a strong, athletic player who can be a very difficult matchup for other team’s perimeter players.  At 6-4 210 pounds, Tucker is hard to stop whenever he goes to the basket.  Tucker put in a team-leading 23 points against Albany, but only scored 6 points in the second half and his shot selection was questionable.  Forward Mac Koshwal is the Blue Demons premiere frontcourt player.  Mac is a terrific rebounder and should only improve in that area with a year of Big East experience under his belt.  He needs to get more looks under the basket and take more than six shots, like he did in the opening game, for DePaul’s offense to be more effective.  Guard Will Walker started this season where he left off last season.  Walker played a complete game by scoring 19 points on 8-14 shooting to go along with two blocks and three steals.  Since moving from the point guard spot to off the ball, Walker has been one of DePaul’s most consistent players.  He is a strong outside shooter, drives to the basket without fear, and rebounds like a forward.  The point guard spot for DePaul is tough to figure out right now with two freshman (Jeremiah Kelly and Mike Bizoukas) and possibly one senior (Jabari Currie) fighting for minutes there.  Jeremiah Kelly had a solid debut Monday night with 10 points, 2 assists, and no turnovers.  With DePaul only getting 8 assists against Albany, though, there is a clear need for one of these players to step up and take control of the point guard spot.

Keys for DePaul
1.  Rebound the basketball - In the season opener on Monday night, the Blue Demons were dominated on the boards by a smaller Albany team.  The Great Danes were able to outrebound DePaul 45-35 and grab 18 offensive boards, which led to 23 second chance points.  Obviously, this is something that cannot continue if DePaul wants to have a successful season.  Players need to get into a good rebounding position and box out.  They need to get aggressive and go up and earn that rebound rather than waiting for it to come to them.

2.  Get the ball inside on offense - The Blue Demons were unable to establish any type of post presence against Albany and relied too much on jump shots.  In the first half, it was not that big of a deal as DePaul shot 45% from the field, including 46% from three point range. However, in the second half, they went cold from the field (31% shooting) and did not hit a single three point basket.  For the Blue Demons to run a more efficient offense, they need to get the ball inside to post players such as Mac Koshwal.  The guards need to penetrate the lane and either get to the basket or pass to an open teammate.  There needs to be more pick and rolls run to get some movement to the basket.

3.  Play with passion - Revenge should be on the minds of all the returning players who played in last season’s game between these two teams.  UIC came into the Allstate Arena and embarrassed the Blue Demons.  DePaul needs to come out of the gates fired up and ready to give UIC 40 minutes of hell.  Dive for loose balls, go to the basket on offense with authority, foul hard, contest every single shot, and make hard passes on offense.  They need to play with a purpose all game long.