Butler Bulldogs (15-15, 6-13 Big East) at DePaul Blue Demons (16-14, 8-11 Big East)
Chicago; Saturday, 12 p.m. EST
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Blue Demons -4.5; over/under is 143.5
BOTTOM LINE: Butler visits DePaul after Michael Ajayi scored 26 points in Butler’s 76-59 loss to the Creighton Bluejays.
The Blue Demons are 11-6 in home games. DePaul is 7-8 in games decided by 10 or more points.
The Bulldogs are 6-13 against Big East opponents. Butler is third in the Big East with 10.2 offensive rebounds per game led by Ajayi averaging 2.9.
DePaul is shooting 44.0% from the field this season, 1.7 percentage points lower than the 45.7% Butler allows to opponents. Butler has shot at a 45.3% clip from the field this season, 1.8 percentage points greater than the 43.5% shooting opponents of DePaul have averaged.
The teams play for the second time in conference play this season. Butler won the last matchup 87-80 on Jan. 21. Finley Bizjack scored 24 points to help lead the Bulldogs to the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Layden Blocker is averaging 11 points, 3.4 assists and 1.6 steals for the Blue Demons. Brandon Maclin is averaging 14.3 points over the last 10 games.
Ajayi is averaging 16.4 points, 11.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists for the Bulldogs. Bizjack is averaging 14.4 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Demons: 4-6, averaging 65.5 points, 28.6 rebounds, 13.4 assists, 7.4 steals and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 43.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.3 points per game.
Bulldogs: 2-8, averaging 70.7 points, 30.7 rebounds, 13.6 assists, 5.2 steals and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 41.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 80.1 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.