DePaul @ Cleveland St. preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 28, 2018 ) Cleveland St. 73, DePaul 83

With 10 wins already in the bank, DePaul heads out for its final non-conference road game of the season Wednesday at Cleveland State. The Blue Demons won 10 games before Jan. 1 for the first time this century and No. 11 appears to be a cinch against the struggling Vikings.

The main cogs for the Blue Demons - Charlie Moore and Paul Reed - once again drove the team as it rebounded from its first loss with a win Saturday against Illinois-Chicago with Reed posting his Big East-leading eighth double-double of the season - two more than Xavier's Tyrique Jones. Reed also surpassed 700 points and 500 rebounds for his career to go along with 105 blocks to become the seventh player in DePaul history to achieve all three milestones, following the likes of Dallas Comegys, Cleveland Melvin and George Mikan, who despite rebounds not becoming official until 1950 is assumed to have more than 500 in his legendary career. Moore got his groove back after two subpar games as the junior recorded his fourth 20-point game of the season with 26 and had five assists against two turnovers - the latter the fewest for him since early November. The Vikings, who lost by 35 points to a Minnesota team that DePaul handled by five points, sunk to 335th out of 350 Division I teams in scoring with 60.9 points per game entering Tuesday.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, No TV

ABOUT DEPAUL (10-1): Freshman big man Nick Ongenda is still feeling his away around college basketball while playing a limited role off the bench for the Blue Demons. The 6-11 center from Alberta, Canada, got a good taste against UIC as he logged career highs in minutes (15) and points (six) while coming up with his first career steal. "We've got some good players on our team, but Nick has as much potential as anybody on our team," coach Dave Leitao told the media. "He's growing physically. His confidence is growing so we've got to get that where it needs to be. He stays positive. He listens and I think he understands."

ABOUT CLEVELAND STATE (4-7): Algevon Eichelberger will get the duty of matching up with Reed as the Spiders employ a four-guard lineup with the 6-8 forward down low. The junior from Saginaw, Mich., has been solid over the last six contests, registering a pair of double-doubles with 13 rebounds in each game, and averaging 13.8 points and nine boards. Tre Gomillion stuffs the stat sheet for the Spiders of the Horizon League as the sophomore guard averages 9.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 steals.

TIP-INS

1. The last time DePaul won 10 games before Jan. 1 was the 1999-2000 season when it posted victory No. 10 on Dec. 30 and finished 21-12 as a member of Conference USA.

2. Reed had 11 points, eight rebounds and six blocks and Jalen Coleman-Lands scored 15 points in DePaul's 83-73 victory over Cleveland State last season.

3. The Blue Demons were 43rd in the season's first NET ratings behind fellow Big East teams Butler (fourth), Villanova (24th) and Georgetown (38th).

PREDICTION: DePaul 87, Cleveland State 61