CBI Tourament: South Florida @ DePaul

Who will WIN this matchup?

South Florida Bulls (23-14)

@ DePaul Blue Demons (19-16)

Current odds:

South Florida Bulls: (+100)

DePaul Blue Demons: (-120)

• The line for this game is DePaul by 1 point.

• DePaul found its offense to square the College Basketball Invitational best-of-three championship series and snap a nine-game losing streak against South Florida, but the Blue Demons lost two more players to injury in Wednesday’s 100-96 overtime thriller. DePaul will seek the tournament title and its first 20-win season since 2006-07 when it hosts the Bulls on Friday at McGrath-Phillips Arena. DePaul was held to nearly 16 points below its season average in Monday’s first game but responded with its fourth 100-point outing of the season two nights later – its most triple-digit scoring games since the 1979-80 season. Paul Reed led the way with career highs of 28 points and 16 rebounds to go with three blocks while Max Strus poured in 32 points as the Blue Demons shot 50 percent from the floor – 12.5 percent higher than Game 1 – and led by 15 points less than two minutes into the second half. However, already playing without starting point guard Devin Gage (concussion protocol), the weary Blue Demons lost starting guard Eli Cain (back) and backup forward Jaylen Butz (shoulder) to injuries during the contest while Strus was playing with a nagging wrist injury.

• USF was led by Laquincy Rideau, who scored a career-high 35 points and added eight assists, and Alexis Yetna, who finished with a 26 points and 13 rebounds for his AAC-leading 15th double-double of the season.

• Rideau (13.5 points, 5.4 assists, 3.7 rebounds), who scored 31 points after intermission, finished 11-of-17 from the field, including 7-of-8 from behind the arc, and added four steals as the junior needs two more steals to become the third player in the NCAA this season with 100 assists and 100 steals. Sophomore guard David Collins (15.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists), who hit the game-winner in the closing seconds in Game 1 and scored 23 points, shot just 3-of-16 for 12 points but added six assists in the loss. The 6-8 Yetna (12.4 points, 9.7 rebounds) shot 11-of-12 from the floor, including 2-of-3 from the arc, while sophomore wing Justin Brown (8.2 points) added 13 points and shot 3-of-11 from 3-point range.

• Strus (20.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 3.3 3-pointers) buried six 3-pointers and scored 20 points in the first half and needs 11 points to join Mark Aguirre as the only players in program history with 700 points in a season (1978-79, 1979-80). With Cain (13.1 points) and Butz (7.1 points, 5.9 rebounds) on the sidelines, freshman Flynn Cameron, who averages 9.0 minutes, scored nine points on 4-of-6 shooting and grabbed three rebounds in 20 minutes and junior Lyrik Shreiner, who averages 13.6 minutes, added seven points and seven assists in 28 minutes. The 6-9 Reed (12.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.5 blocks) converted 11-of-14 shots from the field and added seven offensive rebounds while senior forward Femi Olujobi 12.7 points, 5.3 rebounds) totaled 14 points and four rebounds.

• Reed has averaged 19.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.8 blocks in the first five CBI games.

• Rideau’s 35 points are the 11th-most in a game in school history and the most since Dominique Jones had 37 against Pittsburgh on Jan. 31, 2010.

• Cain had 19 points, three rebounds and three assists in Game 1.