DePaul @ St. John's preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 13, 2019 ) DePaul 74, St. John's 82

The Big East season has not gotten off to an auspicious start for DePaul (0-2) and St. John's (0-3) as both schools head into Saturday's matchup at Madison Square Garden still looking for their first conference win. The Blue Demons have lost two straight at home and come off a last-second 66-65 loss to Providence while the Red Storm stumble home from a lackluster 87-66 loss to Georgetown saddled with a three-game losing streak following a seven-game roll that included impressive wins over ranked West Virginia and Arizona.

"First thing I told our guys is that I take the blame for this one here. I didn't have them prepared for Georgetown," St. John's coach Mike Anderson told reporters afterward. "They came out and took the fight to us in the first half. … That's one of the few times that I can honestly say we didn't come out with that energy that you’ve got to have." The Red Storm were out of it early against the Hoyas, down by 29 at one point and 27 at the break, resulting in the benching of starters Josh Roberts and Julian Champagnie for the entire second half and Mustapha Heron for half of it. But while the Red Storm lacked fire in their loss, DePaul showed fight in theirs with a late 10-point rally to even up their battle with Providence before the Friars hit the winning free throw with 1.1 seconds left. "This league is going to be about survival - each game," Blue Demons coach Dave Leitao said. "From an overall standpoint, you have to get there whether you lose the first two, the last two, two in middle, three in a row. You have to pick yourself up and understand why."

TIME: Noon ET. TV: FOX Sports Network

ABOUT DEPAUL (12-3, 0-2 Big East): Forward Paul Reed ranks third in the nation with 11 double-doubles this season after recording 24 points and 15 rebounds in the loss to Providence and he has now posted 20 double-doubles for his career. Reed paces the team in both scoring (16.1) and rebounds (11.1), while second-leading scorer Charlie Moore (15.9) has five 20-point games and third-leading scorer Jalen Coleman-Lands (11.1) has hit double digits in eight of his last nine games. Led by Reed (48), DePaul ranks 12th in the country in blocked shots (6.1 per game) as it has blocked at least five shots in 12 games, totaling at least seven in six of those contests, including 10 in the loss to Providence.

ABOUT ST. JOHN'S (11-5, 0-3): The Red Storm shot a dismal 25.8 percent from the floor in the first half against Georgetown, including a 2-for-14 showing from deep, but they improved in the second half with the change in lineup. LJ Figueroa (15.1 ppg) remained the team's best weapon, totaling 23 points and five rebounds as he produced his fourth outing of 20 or more points this season, but Heron (13.8) really struggled, failing to hit even one of his five 3-point attempts and finishing just 2-for-10 from the floor for four points. Turnovers were a big part of the story as St. John's coughed it up 15 times in the game, including 10 in the first half, after committing no more than eight in any of its three previous games.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. St. John's holds a 24-20 series lead, but DePaul won both regular-season meetings last season before the Red Storm earned the win in the first round of the Big East tournament.

2. A DePaul player leads the Big East in five categories - double-doubles (Reed), rebounds per game (Reed), blocks per game (Reed), defensive rebounds per game (Reed) and assists per game (Moore).

3. Red Storm G Rasheem Dunn scored a season-high 18 points against Georgetown, giving him 1,000 for his career as he played two seasons at St. Francis Brooklyn before arriving at St. John's.

PREDICTION: St. John's 77, DePaul 74