The Big East regular season will end with two of the top teams in the conference facing off as No. 20 Marquette hosts No. 6 St. John’s on Saturday afternoon in Milwaukee.
Marquette (22-8, 13-6) comes in off a disappointing loss in conference play, falling at UConn 72-66 on Wednesday.
The Golden Eagles were just 3-for-22 from 3-point range, with David Joplin hitting all three and leading the way with 23 points. The rest of the team went 0-for-16 from beyond the arc.
“I thought we made them miss enough to win, but we didn’t get enough of them back,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said. “You look at the 3-point number. … the biggest number there is the offensive rebounds.”
The Huskies grabbed 19 offensive boards.
The Red Storm had the week off after they took down Seton Hall last Saturday 71-61 at Madison Square Garden, clinching the outright Big East title for the first time since 1985.
“This was a goal of ours; seeing a sold-out Madison Square Garden again is very rewarding for me personally,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said. “We’re excited, we need this week to get ready for a tough Marquette, and we’ll get back to the basics of being one of the best conditioned teams in the nation.”
RJ Luis Jr. averages a team-high 17.8 points per game for the Red Storm. Kadary Richmond contributes a club-best 5.1 assists and 2.1 steals, while Zuby Ejiofor leads down low with 8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per contest.
Kam Jones leads Marquette with 18.5 points and 6 assists per game. Joplin averages 5.3 rebounds and Stevie Mitchell contributes 2.3 steals per game.
On the injury front, St. John’s guard Aaron Scott is dealing with an ailing knee and is questionable for Saturday’s game. He played just three minutes against Seton Hall.
Marquette leads the all-time series over St. John’s 23-12 and won six matchups in a row before the Red Storm claimed a 70-64 decision at home on Feb. 4.
Richmond led St. John’s with 18 points and eight assists, and Luis had 17 points. Chase Ross led Marquette with 16 points and eight assists.
A key story to that game was the Red Storm’s poor free-throw effort. St. John’s shot just 54.8 percent from the line as well as just 18.8 percent from beyond the arc, keeping Marquette within striking distance until the end.
If the Golden Eagles win on Saturday, they will at minimum clinch the No. 4 seed in the Big East tournament and could move back into the three seed if UConn falls to Seton Hall.
If Marquette loses, it will either be the four or five seed and will play Xavier in the quarterfinals on Thursday. St. John’s has secured the top spot.
Should Marquette fall into the four or five seed, it could face St. John’s on Friday night in the semifinals if both win their quarterfinal matchups.
–Field Level Media
