With plenty at stake in terms of the Big East standings, two teams will aim to continue their momentum into March when UConn hosts No. 20 Marquette on Wednesday in Storrs, Conn.
Marquette (22-7, 13-5 Big East) has taken care of business in two straight games, dominating Providence at home and winning at Georgetown 76-61 on Saturday night.
Scoring leader Kam Jones had just 13 points but led the way with a season-high 13 assists. Marquette head coach Shaka Smart commented on his impact away from scoring and shooting 3-pointers.
“He came into the year, people thinking of him as a shooting guard,” Smart said. “What he’s doing, passing the ball, on a night where he went 0-for-5 from three … the fact that he can be a threat and have almost double-digit assists in a half is pretty powerful.”
It’s a very similar story for UConn (20-9, 12-6), which has also cruised to wins against the same two teams in the past week. The Huskies beat Georgetown at home 93-79 on Wednesday before going to Providence and winning 75-63 on Saturday.
Huskies coach Dan Hurley spoke on the swings his team has taken this season and the improvements he’s seen in the last two games.
“When our defensive rebounding sucked we shot the heck out of the ball, then our rebounding improved but our shooting turned to crap,” Hurley said. “It feels like maybe the last two games … the shooting is coming back and the rebounding is improving.”
Solo Ball leads all qualified Huskies with 14.9 points per game. Hassan Diarra averages six assists and 1.5 steals while Tarris Reed Jr. leads down low, averaging 7.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks.
Jones guides Marquette offensively, averaging 18.4 points and 6.2 assists per game. David Joplin grabs a team-high 5.3 rebounds, while Stevie Mitchell is among the leaders in the country at 2.4 steals per game.
The first matchup between these teams was a big blow to Marquette. In front of a record crowd on “National Marquette Day,” the Huskies went up by as many as 22 in the first half and Marquette’s rallies in the second were not enough in a 77-69 loss.
Ball scored a career-high 25 for UConn, going 7-for-9 from beyond the arc. Jones scored 22 for Marquette while Chase Ross added 19.
The one aspect of that game Marquette would like to repeat is forced turnovers. They turned the Huskies over 25 times leading to 29 points for the Golden Eagles. UConn was just too good from deep as a team, shooting 12-for-19 (63.2 percent).
Liam McNeeley also did not play in that game for UConn. Since his return on Feb. 7, he has scored in double-figures in all seven games and is averaging 18.9 points and 7.4 rebounds.
UConn has won the last four games in the series. The Huskies swept the regular season before taking down Marquette in the Big East championship game a year ago.
The year prior, Marquette won two of three, including a semifinal game en route to their own Big East championship.
–Field Level Media
