Providence @ DePaul preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 27, 2019 ) DePaul 67, Providence 70

Femi Olujobi will look to maintain the hot hand Saturday when DePaul hosts Providence in a Big East game. The senior from Long Island, N.Y., has averaged 20.2 points over the last six games for the Blue Demons, who will be facing the Friars for the second time in seven days.

Though he is unlikely to overtake Max Strus for the team scoring lead, Olujobi has improved his scoring average from 10.2 points following the Big East opener Dec. 29 to 13.3 points after Wednesday's 20-point effort in a loss to No. 14 Villanova. The 6-9 forward, who began his career at Oakland before transferring to North Carolina A&T, has done it by recording four 20-point games and by cashing in at the free throw line, where he is 41-of-49 over the last eight games. Olujobi's uptick in scoring has mostly coincided with the absence of Jalen Coleman-Lands, who is expected to return after missing 10 games with a hand injury. Alpha Diallo recorded 20 points and nine rebounds, and Drew Edwards made two big free throws as the Friars held on to defeat the Blue Demons 70-67 at home Jan. 27.

TV: 2:30 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1

ABOUT PROVIDENCE (13-8, 3-5 Big East): The return of A.J. Reeves from a seven-week absence will give coach Ed Cooley another option outside of Diallo, who needs 27 points to reach 1,000 for his career. Reeves, a freshman, is being worked back into the rotation slowing, playing 21 minutes over two games after missing nine contests with a foot injury. The 6-6 guard is second on the team in scoring at 12.8 points per game and leads it in 3-point shooting at 43.5 percent.

ABOUT DEPAUL (11-9, 3-6): Olujobi isn't the only Blue Demon to find his stride in Big East play as Paul Reed has also gone on a tear. The 6-9 sophomore from Orlando, Fla., is averaging 15.6 points in conference games thanks to seven games in double figures, including three 20-point games. Reed, who is shooting 54.6 percent on the season, one of three Blue Demons in the top 12 in the Big East along with Jaylen Butz (65.2) and Olujobi (62.7), has notched his first three career double-doubles and just missed another against Providence.

TIP-INS

1. Strus has shot above 33 percent in only two of the nine Big East games and is averaging 14.4 points over that span, well below his 17.2 season average.

2. The Friars hold a 29-11 edge in the series with the Blue Demons, including wins in five of the last eight meetings.

3. Led by Diallo, who has gone 19-of-21, the Friars are 44-of-53 from the foul line over the last three games, yet still rank near the bottom of the Big East.

PREDICTION: Providence 73, DePaul 69