St. John's @ DePaul preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 11, 2020 ) DePaul 67, St. John's 74

DePaul was unable to build upon an upset win last time out and hopes to avoid sinking back into last place in the Big East when St. John's pays a visit Saturday afternoon. The Blue Demons lost their first four conference games by an average of five points before picking up a 79-66 win over then-No. 5 Butler, but they failed to build any momentum and lost to Creighton by 15 points four days later.

"That's the million dollar question, is handling success," DePaul coach Dave Leitao told reporters of his team's inability to gain much from the Butler win. "I've said it before, you got to act the same way through prosperity as you do through adversity. We haven't learned that yet." The last-place Red Storm have lost three in a row since defeating the Blue Demons for their only conference win earlier this month, dropping an 82-68 decision to Marquette on Tuesday. Senior guard Mustapha Heron scored 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting while his teammates combined to shoot 32.8 percent from the floor. "I thought there were some that were probably ill-advised, but we had some open looks," coach Mike Anderson told reporters after his team attempted 28 3-pointers and just nine free throws. ". ... We just didn't knock shots down, some timely shots."

TIME: 2 p.m. ET. TV: Fox Sports 1

ABOUT ST. JOHN'S (12-8, 1-6 Big East): Heron was a bit rusty after returning from an ankle injury earlier this month, but he's now put together back-to-back 18-point efforts to boost his scoring average to 14.0 per game. That's a shade behind team leader LJ Figueroa (14.6), who also tops the Big East in steals (2.2). Junior guard Rasheem Dunn chips in 11.9 points and a team-leading 3.2 assists per contest after recording 12 and four, respectively, in the loss to Marquette.

ABOUT DEPAUL (13-6, 1-5): Junior forward Paul Reed notched his 13th double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds against Creighton and he leads his team in scoring (16.3) and the Big East in rebounding (11.3). Junior guard Charlie Moore (15.9 points) is searching for some consistency, scoring 29 points in an overtime loss at Villanova on Jan. 14 and following that up with a total of 22 on 6-of-28 shooting over the last two contests. Junior forward Jaylen Butz, who chips in 11.2 points and six rebounds per game, sat out Wednesday's loss due to an illness while junior guard Devin Gage (4.9 points) was sidelined with a hamstring injury.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Reed also ranks second among Big East players in blocks (2.9), fifth in steals (1.9) and fifth in field-goal percentage (55.1).

2. Figueroa is 13-of-27 from the floor over his last two games after opening Big East play by going 21-of-70 in a five-game stretch.

3. Dunn had a game-high 19 points in the 74-67 win over DePaul on Jan. 11 at Madison Square Garden, while Butz led the Blue Demons with 17.

PREDICTION: DePaul 74, St. John's 71