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Pitt Vs. DePaul Open Gamethread: Avoiding Four In A Row

I haven't had as much time to preview basketball games as I'd like, but hopefully once the Paul Chryst coaching staff stuff dies down a little, that will change.

Pitt gets DePaul tonight and, in a nutshell, this might not the typical bottom-feeding team we're used to. The Blue Demons are 9-4 with a couple of decent wins on paper against Arizona State and Texas Tech. ASU is actually pretty bad this year, but for DePaul to win those games is a step up. They also competed well against a pair of ten-win teams, Minnesota and Mississippi, losing by a combined three points to them.

To make matters worse, this is a road game.

One of the key guys to watch for is, of course, sophomore Cleveland Melvin. He averages just under 19 points a game and is near the top of the Big East in scoring. His 6.6 rebounds also lead the team. Last year, Melvin led DePaul with 11 points against Pitt, but he's even better this season.

But the other one is sophomore guard Brandon Young, who averages 16 points and five rebounds per game.

Haven't heard anything official on Woodall yet, but I'd assume he doesn't play again - especially since last I read, he wasn't practicing earlier this week.

I've tried to stick up for Pitt during this stretch, but if they drop this one, there will (and should) be all out panic about the team's chances of making the NCAAs.