Saturday, December 4, 2021 3:00 p.m.
Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Two first-year coaches meet in the 57th all-time matchup between DePaul and Loyola on Saturday afternoon, with DePaul holding a 38-18 advantage in the series. It's the first meeting between the two teams since Dec. 29, 2012, when Loyola came out victorious in a 69-61 game at Allstate Arena in Rosemont.
DePaul's new Head Coach Tony Stubblefield is known as a great recruiter, and rose to prominence as an assistant to Lou Henson while at New Mexico State. When Henson had to step down due to health reasons, Stubblefield stepped in as Interim Head Coach and piloted the Aggies to a 2-12 record closing out the 2004-05 season. Most recently, Stubblefield was the top recruiter and assistant at Oregon for 11 years under Dana Altman as the Ducks returned to consistent competitiveness in the Pac 12.
Under Stubblefield, DePaul has a schedule that starts off with eight consecutive home games. Through the first six the Demons are undefeated. But there were a few close calls mixed in there-- a three-point win over Rutgers, a four-point win over Western Illinois, and a nine-point win over Northern Kentucky. The Demons deserve some significant credit in the schedule department, however-- they're playing road games at UIC and Northwestern. Maybe next year, a true road game at Loyola for only the second time since 1988?
The new-look Blue Demons feature an old nemesis, Javon Freeman-Liberty, as their leading scorer and focal point of their local media promotions. The local kid from Whitney Young was pursued by the Ramblers but eventually signed with Valpo. In six games against the Ramblers, Freeman-Liberty averaged 10.5 ppg on 35.8% shooting, while coughing up 3.3 turnovers per game. He's averaging 23.5 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 4.7 assist per game in the early home-cookin' schedule DePaul has played, with a high mark of 33 points in DePaul's 4-point win over the mighty Western Illinois Leathernecks. In his last game against the Ramblers, he scored only six points but Valpo came out with the win at Arch Madness 2020.
Rounding out DePaul's starting lineup are 6'8" forward Brandon Johnson (a grad transfer from Minnesota), 6'7" juco junior Philmon Gebrewhit, 6'6" sophomore forward David Jones, and 6'11" junior center Nick Ongenda.
Jones averages 16.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 2.5 assists, but commits 2.7 turnovers per game. Johnson is averaging 12.8 points and 8.3 rebounds while shooting under 50% from the field because he likes to shoot threes at a .158 clip. Ogenda is their shot blocker and rim protector who averages 2.2 blocks to go with his 11.7 points and 3.8 rebounds. Gebrewhit averages 10.0 points and 4.3 rebounds.
The starters play heavy minutes for the Demons, with all but Ogenda averaging in the mid-thirties in minutes per game. The top bench players are 6'5" senior guard Courvosier McCauley (a transfer two years ago from Lincoln Memorial), 5'11" sophomore guard Jalen Terry (a top 100 recruit out of Flint, Mich.), and 6'10 senior forward Yor Anei. They each average high teen minutes and 4-6 points per game.
The limited depth for the Demons means that Freeman-Liberty will probably be playing nearly 40 minutes as he did in the other close games DePaul played. Rambler defenders Marquise Kennedy and Lucas Williamson know Freeman-Liberty well and have a contentious history playing against him, so that will be an interesting matchup to watch. Three things to watch out for is Freeman-Liberty is getting to the free throw line more than in the past, his three point shooting appears to have taken a big step up so far this year, and his weight/strength conditioning is improved from his Valpo days. Keeping DePaul's other high scorers off the board will be another tough mission, but Loyola's depth and fouls to give will probably give the Ramblers the upper hand.
It's bound to be a close game playing a longtime rival with a new coach on their court. How the game is called may be a factor, so Loyola fans at Wintrust need to be extra loud to even out the home court advantage.
Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... 2_4_21.pdfDePaul game notes: https://depaulbluedemons.com/news/2021/ ... urday.aspxTV/Streaming video: Fox Sports 1
https://www.foxsports.com/liveRadio/Streaming audio: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=89&type=LiveLive stats: https://depaulbluedemons.com/sidearmsta ... ll/summaryVegas odds: Loyola by 5