Xavier @ DePaul

Who will WIN this matchup?

Xavier Musketeers (8-5)

@ DePaul Blue Demons (8-3)

Current odds:

Xavier Musketeers: (-105)

DePaul Blue Demons: (-115)

• The line for this game is even.

• Quentin Goodin appears to be recovering from a shoulder injury just in time for Big East play as Xavier tries to replace its top three scorers from a 29-win squad. The reigning conference player of the week will lead the Musketeers on Saturday when DePaul visits in the league opener for both teams. Goodin, who averaged 8.7 points and 4.9 assists in a starting role for Musketeers last season, had career highs of 22 points and nine rebounds to go with nine assists in a 69-55 win over Detroit Mercy on Dec. 21, just three days after scoring 21 in a 71-56 defeat at Missouri. Goodin has shot 60 percent over his last three games with 25 assists, 14 rebounds and 13 steals after entering that stretch shooting 33.9 percent.

• DePaul, which was picked to finish last in the Big East, had its eight-game home winning streak snapped with a 65-62 loss to Boston College last Saturday after leading for all but 32 seconds.

• Goodin leads the team in scoring (14.3 points) and assists (5.5) but is only shooting 28.6 percent beyond the arc. Forward Naji Marshall (12.5 points, 7.6 rebounds), who missed the Detroit Mercy game with a back injury, is shooting just 21.1 percent from 3-point range for a team that makes just 7.3 per game and shoots 33.7 percent beyond the arc. Ryan Welage (9.0 points, 42 percent 3-point percentage), Zach Hankins (9.7 points, 4.6 rebounds), Tyrique Jones (10.4 points, 7.8 boards) and Paul Scruggs (11.9 points, 53.8 field-goal percentage) give the Musketeers six players who average at least nine points per game.

• The Blue Demons entered the BC game shooting 56.1 percent over their previous three games and 42.3 percent from deep but hit just 36.6 percent against the Eagles, including 4-of-24 from 3-point range. Senior wing Max Strus (team-leading 19.7 points, 8.1 rebounds, 33 3-pointers) scored 16 points on 7-of-22 shooting, including 1-of-10 beyond the arc, and his half-court heave to tie went wide at the buzzer. Eli Cain, who scored 14 points against the Eagles, averages 14.2 points, 4.7 assists and 4.1 rebounds.

• Xavier leads the all-time series 13-9, including sweeping the two-game series last season.

• DePaul’s eight straight wins at home to open the season was the best home start since the 1999-2000 team won its first eight outings.

• Cain sits 21st on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,340 points and seventh in 3-pointers with 142.