College basketball preview
DePaul (8-23) vs. Cincinnati (18-13)
When: 11 a.m. at Madison Square Garden, New York
Internet: bigeast.tv
Audio: depaulbluedemons.com
The skinny: Unless they win 11 consecutive games over the next 29 days and take home the NCAA title, the Blue Demons can't avoid setting the school record for single-season losses. Since that seems statistically unlikely for a team owning 18 consecutive losses, DePaul's goal in this Big East tournament opener is simply to prolong its season another day. The good news? The Demons' second-closest Big East loss came against ninth-seeded Cincinnati as they fell 59-55 on Jan. 17 at Allstate Arena. The bad news? The Bearcats enter this tournament with an RPI of 72 and probably need 3 wins in order to make the NCAA Tournament committee take a serious look. The worse news? Nobody in a DePaul uniform has played a second of postseason ball.
Advancement: The winner faces eighth-seeded Providence (18-12) at 11 a.m. Wednesday on ESPN.
Northern Illinois (10-19) vs. Kent St. (18-13)
When: 1 p.m. at Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland
Radio: WLBK 1360-AM
The skinny: Who says the Huskies aren't consistent? They own the No. 11 seed in the MAC tournament for the third straight year, which means they're facing long odds to pick up the program's first tournament win since 2003. NIU and Kent State played a double-overtime thriller Feb. 10 at DeKalb. Point guard Mike DiNunno, who made the MAC's all-freshman team, drilled a half-court shot to extend the game before Kent State won 86-83. The Huskies feature all-MAC second-teamer Jake Anderson (16.9 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.5 apg) while the Golden Flashes boast first-teamer Al Fisher (15.1 ppg, 3.5 apg).
Advancement: The winner plays third-seeded Buffalo (19-10) at 1:30 p.m. Thursday on Fox Sports Ohio.
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