Big East Tournament: UConn Huskies vs. DePaul Blue Demons GameThread

The 9-seed Connecticut Huskies and 16-seed DePaul Blue Demons kick off the Big East Tournament on Tuesday. The winner will move on to face the 8-seed West Virginia Mountaineers on Wednesday and those two will play for the right to take on the 1-seed Syracuse Orange on Thursday.

Someone said the other day that this game should just be referred to as "The DePaul" since it seems like they're almost always the bottom seed in the BET. The Blue Demons were supposed to begin making strides this season but it was just another miserable year for that "other" program in the Big East. DePaul did break a nine-game losing streak on Saturday when they beat the flailing Seton Hall Pirates. However, they enter the BET at 12-18 (3-15), hoping for a miracle of miracles.

The Huskies are right back where they started last season, in the first round playing for their post-season lives. The chances they can make another five-in-five run seem slim, however. At 18-12 and having lost 6 of their last 9, the Huskies need a good run in order to lock themselves into the 2012 NCAA Tournament. There is no Kemba Walker on this roster but the team is still loaded with talent in Jeremy Lamb, Andre Drummond and Shabazz Napier.

UConn throttled DePaul 80-54 on February 15 and are expected to do much of the same today. UConn also kickstarted last year's BET run by beating DePaul in the first round, 90-71.

Leave your pre-, in- and post-game comments below as we get one step closer to knowing who we'll play on Thursday. And check out SB Nation's Big East Tournament primer while you wait or if this game turns into a laugher.

G'ORANGE!