Marquette men's basketball coach Buzz Williams is getting sick of everyone asking how tough the team's final stretch of Big East games will be.

"I thought the first 13 games were really hard on us," Williams said. "Maybe that's just because I view it in a different way."

Or maybe it's simply because, following a 78-72 victory over Georgetown, the Golden Eagles (23-4, 12-2 Big East) are now in a three-way tie for second place in what is arguably the nation's most competitive conference.

After a few years of Marquette's season ending before the team (and its fans) would prefer, maybe detractors have come to expect the Golden Eagles to fail. And since they haven't, it must be because those first 13 games were easy, right?

Williams isn't buying it. "I think every game has a critical impact, good and bad, on postseason, on your seed, all of those things," he said.

While Williams is correct that Marquette's current resume will earn it an NCAA bid, it is also true that the outcome of team's final four games — starting with conference-leader Connecticut Wednesday — will mean the difference between facing a team like Wisconsin or Butler and a team like Vermont or Cornell.

The Match-up: Marquette vs. Connecticut

Connecticut (25-2, 13-2 Big East) is no longer the No. 1-ranked team in the country (No. 2) after falling to Pittsburgh last week, but the Huskies are still leading the Big East.

A win would likely prove Marquette's standing as one of the nation's elite teams as well as give the team a chance at the conference title.

"I think it will be a great test for us," junior forward Lazar Hayward said. "This is one of those things that we as college basketball players live for. What greater task can you ask for?"

The X-Factor

It's no secret that Marquette's biggest player is often-forgotten senior Dwight Burke. It is also no secret that Connecticut's biggest man is Big East player-of-the-year candidate Hasheem Thabeet.

The 7-foot-3, 263-pound junior center is averaging 13.4 points, 10.5 rebounds and 4.4 blocks in 31.3 minutes per game. He is also shooting 64.6 percent from the field.

"We're going to have to do a couple more things with Dwight as far ball screens and things like that, and getting him involved in more on-ball stuff with us," senior guard Jerel McNeal said. "Just to pull him away from the basket."

Thabeet struggled against DeJuan Blair in the team's loss to Pittsburgh, finishing with just five points and four rebounds in 23 minutes, while spending most of the game in foul trouble.

"We haven't played in as physical a game all year," Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said. "That's something that we need to adjust to during games."

Dwight Burke, however, is not DeJuan Blair. And while a combination of Burke and Lazar Hayward work to contain Thabeet, a combination of Jimmy Butler, Wesley Matthews and Hayward will have to shadow senior forward Jeff Adrien (13.8 ppg, 10.2 rpg).

The Injury Factor

Connecticut may still be leading the Big East, but the Huskies don't look quite as strong as they did just two weeks ago.

"I don't have a lot of complaints except for the first time I would admit to myself just how good Jerome Dyson is," Calhoun said. "His defense, his toughness, his ability to split the paint."

The loss of Dyson (13.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.2 apg) hurt the Huskies against Pittsburgh, and it is likely that a guard-heavy team like Marquette will be able to further exploit that perimeter weakness.

"They're going to have to match-up with us too," McNeal said. "It's not all about what they do."