Georgetown vs. DePaul College Basketball prediction, preview
Georgetown and DePaul split the regular season series, with each team winning on its home floor. The Hoyas took the most recent matchup, but it was back when KJ Lewis was still playing — he’s since gone down with a season-ending injury.
Things didn’t go well for Ed Cooley and company down the stretch, snapping a seven-game losing streak in the regular season finale with a one-point win over Providence. DePaul enters the Big East tournament on a two-game losing streak, but previously showed some life. The Blue Demons had won four of their previous five, with all four wins as the betting underdog.
Most notable metrics sites have Georgetown priced as the favorite in this one, but DePaul was seemingly overlooked all regular season. The Blue Demons far exceeded expectations in landing the 6-seed in the Big East, and have something to prove in this tournament. The Hoyas are relatively balanced on both sides of the ball, and while DePaul can be tough to watch at times on offense, it does bring one quality that can mean a lot in tournament settings. The Blue Demons are elite defensively, ranking 38th in efficiency on KenPom.
DePaul also likes to slow down the pace, which could make this one a bit of a rock fight. Without Lewis, Georgetown is much closer to the team we saw riding that seven-game losing streak late in the season, and even the narrow win over the Friars came against a team that will reportedly be parting ways with its head coach.
The Blue Demons went 9-3 when priced as the favorite this season, and were also tremendous at covering spreads away from home — a combined 10-3 ATS in road and neutral games. I believe DePaul is being overlooked in this spot and will be playing with something to prove. Look for the Blue Demons to slow the pace down and win this game on defense against a Hoyas team that will struggle without its leader.
