Delaware State @ DePaul preview

DePaul will look to bounce back from its defeat at the hands of No. 14 Notre Dame when it hosts Delaware State on Monday. The Blue Demons, who went 9-23 last season, packed their new home, the 10,000-seat, $193 million Wintrust Arena in the opener but suffered a 72-58 setback Saturday.

DePaul shot 33.8 percent from the field against the Fighting Irish. Eli Cain and Tre'Darius McCallum each scored 14 points for the Blue Demons, but Notre Dame broke open a tight game early in the second half by hitting eight of its first 10 3-point attempts after intermission. Still, the new venue drew raves from coaches and the players. "The student section was packed," McCallum told reporters. "The fans were behind us the whole time. I like it a lot better."

TV: 7 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 2

ABOUT DELAWARE STATE (1-0): Delaware State routed Division III Cairn 71-50 in its opener on Friday. Artem Tavakalyan scored 18 points and Simon Okolue added 17 in the opening win. The Hornets struggled defending the paint last season, going 10-22 and losing three starters, but managed to outrebound Cairn 52-31 in the opener.

ABOUT DEPAUL (0-1): Senior Marin Maric opened the season needing 11 points to reach 1,000 in his career but 6-11 center from Croatia was 1-for-8 from the field against Notre Dame and finished with three points. Highly touted newcomer Max Strus also struggled from the field, converting 3-of-13 shots, all but one of them from beyond the arc, and finished with 11 points. Strus is a transfer who scored 52 points in a junior college game and Maric is graduate transfer from Northern Illinois.







TIP-INS

1. Saturday's opener ended a 37-year run at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., which was 14 miles off campus. The Wintrust Arena is seven miles from the campus home in Chicago.

2. DePaul finished last in the Big East in 3-point shooting last season and went 5-for-22 from beyond the arc Saturday.

3. The Hornets were picked to finish seventh in the 13-team Mid Eastern Athletic Conference preseason poll.

PREDICTION: DePaul 70, Delaware State 60