GAME NOTES: The 10th-seeded Creighton Bluejays will begin their unlikely quest back to the Big Dance on Wednesday as they take on the seventh-seeded DePaul Blue Demons in the first round of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden.

Coach Greg McDermott's Bluejays received an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament last season and reached the round of 32 before they said good bye to their star forward Doug McDermott, who went on to be a lottery pick in the NBA Draft and three other starters. Creighton's first season of rebuilding went as expected. The Bluejays tied Marquette for last place in the Big East standings after they ended the season on a three-game losing streak. Creighton struggled offensively throughout the campaign, as it ranked just ninth in the league in points per game (67.4 ppg).

DePaul lost 10 of its last 11 games after a 3-0 start to its conference season. Coach Oliver Purnell's team has produced 69.6 ppg, but has also been porous defensively with an allowance of 73.4 ppg. The Blue Demons, who are entering the postseason with a losing overall record for the eighth consecutive season, have lost seven games in a row, including three-straight double-digit losses. DePaul was handed a 58-48 loss at Marquette on Saturday in its regular season finale.

These teams split their regular-season series with the road team coming out of each matchup on top. DePaul owns a 16-11 lead in the series, but the Bluejays have won six of the last seven meetings.

Although the Bluejays ended their regular season with three consecutive losses, those setbacks to Seton Hall (67-66), Villanova (76-72) and Xavier (74-73) came by a combined total of six points. Senior guard Austin Chatman finished the regular season-ending loss to the Musketeers with 18 points and had a 25-footer just before the buzzer that would have won the game just rim out. Chatman paces Creighton in the scoring (11.6 ppg) and assists (3.7 apg), while James Milliken (8.9 ppg) and Rick Kreklow (7.6 ppg) have shown improvement during the conference season. McDermott is 4-1 during his career against Purnell.

DePaul has a solid backcourt led by sophomore guard Billy Garrett Jr., who was named honorable mention All-Big East on Sunday. Garrett is posting 12.4 ppg and has handed out a team-high 118 assists. The Blue Demons set a new single-season program record with 231 makes from beyond the arc. They are averaging 7.8 makes from behind the 3-point line on 35.3 percent efficiency. Myke Henry (12.1 ppg), Jamee Crockett (11.8 ppg) and Tommy Hamilton IV (10.0 ppg) also appear in the top 25 on the Big East scoring leaderboard. The Blue Demons played without Hamilton in their last outing. The sophomore center is expected to return to the court on Wednesday.

The winner of this contest will advance to the second round to play No. 2 Georgetown. The availability and health of Hamilton will play a huge role for DePaul, as the Blue Demons lack a reliable low-post threat without him in the lineup. The Bluejays are better than their record shows and will advance if they can contain Garrett.