It has been just 27 days since No. 7 Marquette and Xavier faced off.
It is a rather quick turnaround for their second regular season matchup, considering the Golden Eagles have not faced four of their Big East foes (UConn, St. John’s, Villanova or Seton Hall) yet before taking on the Musketeers in a mid-January rematch in Milwaukee.
Marquette has won five straight against Xavier, with the last loss for the Golden Eagles occurring on Jan. 15, 2023, 80-76 in Cincinnati.
Marquette (15-2, 6-0 Big East) emerged victorious, 72-70 in the two squads’ last meeting on Dec. 21 at Cintas Center. However, Xavier (11-7, 3-4 Big East) rallied late to give the Golden Eagles everything they could handle in the final minutes.
Though seniors Kam Jones and David Joplin gave Marquette some much needed scoring in the stretch run to close it out, despite being ahead by over 10 points with nearly six minutes left to play.
Mettle of undefeated Big East record will be put to the test
Since their last meeting with the Musketeers, the Golden Eagles have won four straight Big East matchups. First, they blew out Providence at the Amica Mutual Pavilion, then it was close home victories against Creighton and Georgetown, and the latter — which was a product of a 14-point comeback effort — was gutting out an 85-83 overtime win against DePaul at Wintrust Arena, highlighted by a career high 30-point performance from Joplin.
Jones, who was named to the Wooden Award mid-season watchlist, leads Marquette in scoring average with 19.6 points per game, while also averaging north of six assists and five rebounds.
Junior guard Chase Ross played an integral part of keeping the Golden Eagles afloat against the Hoyas, with a career-high 27-point game, to go along with six steals. With both Ross and Joplin reaching career scoring highs, and the consistent shooting and passing of Jones, Marquette is hitting its stride with players stepping up when needed.
Xavier may look to others from beyond the arc
The last time Marquette lost at home was Mar. 6, 2024 against eventual national champion UConn. Outside that and the Golden Eagles’ dreadful shooting performance last year against Butler, Marquette has won 24 out of its last 26 home games.
Junior guard and two-time transfer Ryan Conwell leads Xavier in scoring with just over 17 points per game, additionally shooting 41 percent from downtown. He has attempted 137 treys so far this season — which is 78 more than the Musketeer’s next closest mark of 59.
Graduate student forward Zach Freemantle is just behind Conwell in scoring average at 16.9 points per game, while also racking up about seven and a half rebounds a game.
Conwell is Xavier’s main 3-point threat, but a key for the Musketeers will be to explore other options from deep, with four other Musketeers shooting over 31 percent. If Xavier hopes to pull off the road upset, a fresh spark will be key in a tough road environment, with a sold-out crowd.
How to follow the game
Tip-off is slated for Saturday, Jan. 18, 1 p.m. CST at Fiserv Forum.
Watch: FOX will nationally broadcast the game, with Brandon Gaudin (play-by-play) and Robbie Hummel (analyst) calling the afternoon’s action.
Listen: 94.5 ESPN Milwaukee
Live updates: @MatthewBaltzMU, @KaylynnWrightMU and @MUWireSports.
This article was written by Mikey Severson. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MikeySeversonMU
