7:02 pm
January 1

#16 Marquette @ St. John’s

Who will WIN this matchup?

#16 Marquette Golden Eagles (11-2)

@ St. John’s Red Storm (12-1)

 

Current odds:

Marquette Golden Eagles: (+110)

St. John’s Red Storm: (-130)

 

 The line for this game is St. John’s by 2 points.

• St. John’s will look to shake off a buzzer-beating loss against Seton Hall to open its Big East schedule when the Red Storm host No. 18 Marquette on Tuesday. The Golden Eagles begin conference play riding an eight-game win streak thanks to junior Markus Howard and his 25.1 points per game, which ranks first in the Big East and fifth in the country. Howard picked up right where he left off after a seven-day holiday break as the sharpshooting guard followed up a 40-point second half in a Marquette win over No. 20 Buffalo on Dec. 21 with a perfect 8-of-8 first-half shooting performance in a Golden Eagles 84-41 win over Southern on Friday. Howard scored 63 points over the two halves in just 26 minutes, 21 seconds of action while hitting 13-of-15 from behind the 3-point arc.

• St. John’s suffered its first loss of the season in a 76-74 last-second heartbreaker versus Seton Hall on Saturday after the Pirates capitalized on a controversial call that handed them the ball with 3.9 seconds left and down by one. The Red Storm nearly overcame an off-night from leading scorer Shamorie Ponds (18.7 points per game), who finished with eight points on 2-for-13 shooting but still chipped in with seven assists, six rebounds and five steals.

• The Golden Eagles scored 24 points off 17 Southern turnovers Friday but only surrendered six points off their own 14 giveaways. While the offense has made headlines, Marquette’s defense has been nearly as impressive as the Golden Eagles end non-league play in the top-30 nationally in rebounds per game (41.5), rebound margin (9.0), blocks (63) and field-goal percentage defense (38.7). Outside of Howard, junior Sam Hauser is the only other player averaging double figures in scoring (14.6) while also leading the team in rebounding (6.8).

• The Red Storm received a game-high 19 points from junior Mustapha Heron in the loss to Seton Hall and 16 points each from junior Justin Simon and senior Marvin Clark II. St. John’s recorded 12 steals Saturday – the fifth time it has reached double figures this season – and are among the national leaders with a plus-6 turnover margin. Ponds is making his case for Big East Player of the Year as his scoring total (18.7) is fourth best in the conference and he leads the Big East in assists (6.1), assist-to-turnover ratio (3.3-to-1) and steals (2.7).

• St. John’s is 8-0 at home while Marquette has lost its only true road game of the season.

• The 12-0 start was St. John’s best since 1982-83 when sophomore, and current head coach, Chris Mullin led his team to 14 straight wins to begin the season.

• The Big East released a statement Monday confirming an incorrect call was made that led to St. John’s losing possession in the final seconds of Saturday’s loss.

5/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
#16 Marquette Golden Eagles