DePaul @ Creighton preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 22, 2020 ) Creighton 83, DePaul 68

No. 21 Creighton will go for win No. 20 on the season Saturday in a Big East Conference game against visiting DePaul, a team it has dominated of late. The Bluejays, who used small-ball to knock off league-leading and No. 10 Seton Hall Wednesday, have won 15 of 16 games against the Blue Demons since joining the Big East and all but two of them have been by double figures.

Due to foul trouble, the Bluejays were forced to go to a lineup consisting of five players 6-6 or shorter and it punished the Pirates, who came into the game leading the Big East in points per possession allowed (0.94) and shooting percentage defense (38.7). The group of Ty-Shon Alexander, Marcus Zegarowksi, Mitch Ballock, Denzel Mahoney and Damien Jefferson hit on 1.38 points per possession and turned the game in Creighton's favor in the first half with a 15-2 run. The Bluejays shot 46 percent and four of those players finished with exactly 18 points for the game, the first time Creighton has had four players score that many or more in the same game since at least 1981. Paul Reed recorded his 15th double-double of the season, a number topped by only four players in Division I, including Xavier's Tyrique Jones (17), and the Blue Demons led at halftime, but once again they squandered the lead in falling at Georgetown for their sixth straight loss last Saturday.

TIME: 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: Fox Sports 1

ABOUT DEPAUL (13-11, 1-10 Big East): A streak of seven straight games in double figures, including 17 points in the loss to Georgetown, has carried Jalen Coleman-Lands over 1,000 points for his career. The senior, who scored 630 of those points at Illinois, has 379 points in 33 career games for the Blue Demons or 11.5 per game. The 6-4 guard from Indianapolis came to DePaul as a 40.2 percent 3-point shooter, but has been a disappointment in that regard, making just 32.2 percent in two seasons with the Blue Demons - including 34.8 percent in 2019-20.

ABOUT CREIGHTON (19-6, 8-4): Ballock drew tight coverage from Seton Hall, which resulted in his first scoreless game of the season and fifth of his career. The junior, who remains 64 points shy of 1,000 for his career, will be happy to see the Blue Demons come to town as he had 19 points and five 3-pointers in the first meeting this season - a 15-point win for the Bluejays - and a career-high 39 points with a school-record 11 triples in the second meeting last season. The 6-5 guard from Eudora, Kansas is one of five players in Division I that is ranked in the top 20 in both 3-pointers made (75) and 3-point percentage (44.4).

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Creighton is one of seven teams in Division I with 20 or more wins in 19 of the previous 21 seasons, joining Gonzaga, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Florida and Syracuse.

2. Mahoney, who has averaged 12.8 points since debuting for Creighton in December, has made 21 straight free throws - still well behind the school record of 45 straight by Doug McDermott in 2013-14.

3. The Bluejays have as many wins over top 25 teams under head coach Greg McDermott (18-32 record) as they did prior to his arrival (18-115) in 2010-11.

PREDICTION: Creighton 90, DePaul 73