The open road has not been excessively kind to the Marquette men's basketball team over the past two-plus years.

The Golden Eagles excel in front of raucous Bradley Center crowds — they are 31-6 in Milwaukee over the past two seasons — and have started 12-0 at home this year while beating opponents by an average of 21 points per game.

But road games can be a different story. In road games, Marquette is just 11-9 over the past two seasons. The Golden Eagles are 2-0 in true road games this season, but their point differential drops to four points per game. In neutral site games this season, Marquette is 1-2, losing to Dayton (Nov. 29) and Tennessee (Dec. 16) while beating Northern Iowa (Nov. 28).

To stay undefeated in Big East play (and likely atop the Big East standings), the Golden Eagles will need to beat Providence (11-5, 3-1 Big East) in Providence, R.I.

The key: Wesley Matthews.

Matthews hasn't seen his scoring totals drop much since conference play started — he's averaging 18.0 ppg in Big East games. On the season, he's scoring 18.9 ppg and grabbing 5.5 rebounds per game, which is good for first and second on the team, respectively.

Fellow senior guards Dominic James (11.8 ppg, 5.2 assists per game) and Jerel McNeal (18.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg) are going to get theirs, but Matthews can seriously help on the offensive end and on the boards.

"My success is the team's success, as the team succeeds, I succeed," Matthews said. "I'm just doing my role. That's to be aggressive, be a leader, make plays."

The variable: Lazar Hayward

Hayward struggled a little against West Virginia Saturday, scoring seven points (on 2-of-6 shooting) and grabbing nine rebounds in 29 minutes of play, and was pulled just a few minutes into the game after a quick foul. Coach Buzz Williams said Hayward had a health issue that wasn't completely resolved by game time.

"Lazar was taking an IV literally until we said 'amen' in the locker room and headed out onto the floor," Williams said. "I really didn't care what he had. I told them to give him an IV, and he was going to play. I didn't ask."

Marquette could use Hayward's size and ability on the boards (he averages 8.5 rpg) against a Friars' team that is in the middle of the Big East pack in rebounding. Hayward also averages 16.0 ppg and provides a viable scoring threat in the paint, something guard Jimmy Butler said would be key.

The key is to "get the ball in the paint, take in-rhythm shots and crash the boards," Butler said. "We just have to make sure that we gang-rebound, everybody crashing, everybody boxing out."

The gameplan: Play like Marquette

Providence, led by new coach Keno Davis, started 3-0 in Big East play before finally falling to Georgetown 82-75 on Saturday. Still, despite the Friars' early success, Butler said the Golden Eagles are more focused on what they want to do.

"We focus on their team, but our main focus is our team," Butler said. "We always talk about us being the competition."

Matthews said that Providence was likely to employ a fast-paced attack similar to Marquette's. The Friars are fifth in scoring offense in the Big East (78.8) and 15th in scoring defense (70.5).

"It's going to be a fight. They play fast, they're strong, they're physical, they zone, they man, they do a bunch of stuff," Matthews said. "It's about what we do, our pace, our style, our cuts, our movement, our physicality, our mindset."