Musketeer Madness

When Saturday, January 3 2 P.M. ET
Where: Wintrust Arena Chicago, Ill.

TV: FS1 with play-by-play from Noah Reed and analysis from Dicky Simpkins.
Radio: 55KRC

Season Results Breakdown
DePaul opened the season 5–2, including wins over:
• Chicago State (92–62)
• Stonehill (72–64)
• Gardner Webb (93–62)
• Detroit Mercy (95–75)
• Georgia Tech (75–61)
Losses include:
• Buffalo (66–53)
• Northwestern (81–79)
• LSU (96–63)
BIG EAST play began with:
• Loss at St. John’s (79–66)
• Loss vs UConn (72–54)
• Loss at Villanova (71–66) Dec 31

DePaul Team Statistical Snapshot
From Sports Reference season metrics:
• 74.7 PPG scored
• 69.0 PPG allowed
• Offensive Rating: 106.8
• Defensive Rating: 98.6

Weaknesses
• Inconsistent perimeter shooting — Only Gunn is above 34% from three.
• Offensive droughts vs high major teams — Losses to Buffalo, Northwestern, LSU, UConn and Villanova all featured scoring issues.
• Rebounding depth — Benson leads, but no second strong rebounder.
• BIG EAST physicality — 0–3 start with double-digit losses except for Nova
🧠 Style of Play
• Guard-driven offense — Blocker initiates, Gunn is the primary scorer. 13.8 ppg
• Half court oriented — No evidence of high tempo scoring; efficiency relies on execution.
• Defensive identity emerging — DRtg and PA/G both rank top 100 nationally.
• Interior scoring emphasis — Benson’s efficiency is a focal point. 10.9 ppg

Overall Assessment So Far
DePaul’s 2025–26 season shows clear improvement from Holtmann’s first year:
• The defense is significantly better (top 100 DRtg).
• The offense is functional but inconsistent, especially against stronger opponents.
• The team has multiple reliable scorers, but lacks a dominant star.

X needs to contain #1 Kaleb Banks today, a transfer from Tulane with talent. Cannot allow him to get on a roll and he has something to prove after a down game against Villanova. The other key is to keep back-up 7’2” Center #15 Fabian Flores off the Boards and from getting into rhythm.

We will be in attendance!

For grins, a nail-biter:

Xavier - 74
DePaul - 72

Let’s Go X!

Not a bad first half. We need to move the ball faster and move our bodies faster on offense. Nice lift from Walker. He had 6 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists. Thought Pops should have played more too. We have to follow their shots...too many times we let the DePaul shooter follow their shot and get the offensive rebound. We need to keep going to the rim... DePaul has only 4 fouls. Filip is beating his man off the dribble but passing off instead of going to the rim. They are double teaming Carroll every time and we need the free man to roll to the basket. GO X.

Terrible foul by Walker on the three point shot. If we are going to win we need Carrol and Anderson need to carry us. Go Pops

Better effort than the U Conn game but we don't have enough players. Carroll, Filip and Anderson are good and Pops is coming on but we need at least 4 more players. Moore needs to play a lot harder on defense. He still runs under every screen. Wright gave us nothing and Milicevic is so soft. He failed to box out on the free throw with a minute to go and they got the offensive rebound. Has anyone heard anything on Pozzato? Hope the injury is not a ACL.

Better effort than the U Conn game but we don't have enough players. Carroll, Filip and Anderson are good and Pops is coming on but we need at least 4 more players. Moore needs to play a lot harder on defense. He still runs under every screen. Wright gave us nothing and Milicevic is so soft. He failed to box out on the free throw with a minute to go and they got the offensive rebound. Has anyone heard anything on Pozzato? Hope the injury is not a ACL.

Perazzo’s injury was supposedly only a meniscus tear, not a ligament

Well, suffice to say I will not be making any future predictions on the results of a game.

Boy, either Roger Ayers has really slipped as an official or he was going through the motions today.

Too many of these big east refs are too old to keep up with superbly conditioned athletes

gym from delhi wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 03, 2026 10:33 pm

Too many of these big east refs are too old to keep up with superbly conditioned athletes

It is amazing how poorly some men's basketball games are officiated, but then NFL and College Football refs miss obvious fouls, including poor interpretation of traveling and hooking calls, as well as facemasking, holding, and picks. I think many refs are into the "look at me" syndrome and the BET/MGM

It is no longer a sport when the players can't decide the outcome of a game, but the refs decide when and if to call a foul.