Game thread: St. John's at DePaul

Before the season, no one would point at St. John's vs. DePaul as the barn burner to burn all the countryside's barns.

No one is saying that now either. Still, for both teams there is a strong and real motivation to make this game a truly competitive match. St. John's, of course, is coming off of a surprise home win over the Butler Bulldogs. DePaul is coming off of a three point loss to the Villanova Wildcats, where they were competitive down the stretch.

To feed their teams the coffee of hope after those promising outings, each team wants a victory.

And each team has strengths.

St. John's is gifted with shooting against a team that tends to pack in the defense - a strategy that begs opponents to shoot from outside.

DePaul has long rangy guards who attack the interior, where St. John's struggles.
And neither team has highly-productive big men.

Which team will budge in Chicago (ok, just outside of Chicago)? We find out at 2 pm on Fox Sports 1.