DePaul @ Creighton preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 20, 2019 ) Creighton 79, DePaul 67

Max Strus enters DePaul's regular season finale Saturday at Creighton as hot as any player in the country. The senior has scored 73 points over the last two games and 98 in the last three contests for the Blue Demons, who can lock up a winning season by beating the Bluejays.

Strus began his scoring spree with 25 points against Georgetown on Feb. 27 before exploding for 43 in Sunday's victory over St. John's and 30 in Wednesday's 101-69 win over the Hoyas. The 6-6 guard from Hickory Hills, Ill., has been on fire from downtown, making 16-of-32 over the three games, including 14-of-25 in the last two contests, and has been near perfect from the foul line, going 16-of-17. "This is the perfect time to get hot and we just want to keep on going," Strus told the media after the Blue Demons hung 101 points on Georgetown. "Stay undefeated in March and keep doing what we're doing." The Bluejays have also been on fire of late, winning four straight games behind Ty-Shon Alexander and Martin Krampelj, who have traded off leading the team in scoring and rebounding during the streak.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1

ABOUT DEPAUL (15-13, 7-10 Big East): Devin Gage won't attract the attention like Strus or teammate Eli Cain, but had one of his better games in the win over Georgetown. The sophomore, who has had at least two assists in every game since the season opener, finished with a career-high 10 assists against one turnover and is averaging 4.1 assists. "Devin Gage was fantastic," coach Dave Leitao told the media. "He managed the game as well as he has all season. I think start to finish we played our most complete game of the season on both ends of the court."

ABOUT CREIGHTON (17-13, 8-9): Krampelj, who recorded his fourth double-double in the last eight contests in the win over Providence on Wednesday, has scored in double figures in 11 straight and 19 of the last 20 games. The junior from Slovenia has averaged 8.5 rebounds in the last eight games to climb to eighth in the Big East with 6.8 boards per game. Alexander, the No. 9 scorer in the Big East at 16.3 points per game, netted 17 points and three 3-pointers against Providence to extend his own school record of consecutive games with a triple to 33 straight.

TIP-INS

1. Cain had 24 points for DePaul in the win over Georgetown, his 17th career 20-point outing.

2. Creighton has dominated the series with DePaul since 2006, winning nine straight and 14 of 15 games to take a 14-12 advantage.

3. The 12 home wins and seven Big East victories are the most for DePaul since the 2006-07 squad won 14 and nine, respectively.

PREDICTION: Creighton 84, DePaul 77