The Marquette Golden Eagles came into conference play ranked No.16 in the AP, but stumbled in its Big East opener. They’ll look to get back on the right foot on Saturday when they play host to the Xavier Musketeers at home in Milwaukee.
Both teams will be coming off a loss heading into tip-off at noon. That’s not that uncommon for the Musketeers who’ve struggled a bit in the non-conference portion of its schedule. The loss for the Golden Eagles, however, is a bit less common.
Each team will be looking for their first conference win of the season on Saturday. Will the Golden Eagles be able to take advantage of their home court edge and grab the victory or can this Xavier team come together in what is a rebuilding year to get a big upset early in the conference schedule?
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Xavier Musketeers vs. Marquette Golden Eagles
Date and Time: Sunday, January 6, 2019, 12 p.m. ET
Location: BMO Harris Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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Musketeers vs. Golden Eagles TV Coverage: FOX
Xavier enters play on Saturday with a disappointing 9-6 record at this point in the season after dropping their Big East conference opener to Seton Hall.
In the loss, the Musketeers held tough early, going to the locker room at the half with a four-point lead. The Pirates came out strong in the second half, however, and Xavier couldn’t hold it, shooting just 37-percent from the floor after half-time. The team was 17-for-31 in the first half.
Overall, this is a vastly different Xavier team than the one that beat Marquette in both games played a season ago. Last year, the Musketeers earned a No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. This year, they’ve basically started over after losing a ton of talent.
The Musketeers do still have five players scoring in the double-digits per contest, but the team lacks depth.
They’re scoring 75 PPG and shooting a solid 48.4-percent from the floor, but this team can be rundown in difficult matchups as we saw in their most recent loss to Seton Hall.
Quentin Goodin is the leading scorer for the Musketeers. The junior guard is the leader on the court, scoring a team high 13.5 PPG while leading in assists with 5.7 as well. Despite the strong scoring totals, Goodin isn’t a great shot, particularly on the outside and instead puts up his numbers on quantity of chances.
Paul Scruggs and Ryan Welage are the more reliable outside shooters. They help spread the court for Naji Marshall, Zach Hankins and Tyrique Jones inside.
Hankins is the big man inside and is a good blocker while Marshall is second on the team in scoring with 12.6 PPG and tops in rebounds with eight per contest. Overall, Xavier is okay on the glass.
On the other side of the matchup, Marquette is as equipped as every to topple Xavier, exacting bit of payback for the losses a season ago.
Marquette did lose against St. John’s in its conference opener, 69-89. It was an ugly loss, but the Golden Eagles should be able to bounce back.
St. John’s scored 50 in the second half to run away with the game, sinking 11 shots from three-point range in the game. They owned the outside. Of course they shot well from everywhere on the court.
Marquette’s defense can be a bit suspect at times, but should hold up a bit better against Xavier. The Golden Eagles are averaging more rebounds and blocks than their counterparts on Saturday.
The Musketeers have a better shooting percentage from the floor, but the Golden Eagles are the better shooting team from the outside. Even forwards Sam Hauser and Joey Hauser can shoot rather well from the perimeter.
Markus Howard is the team’s leading scorer. He’s got 23.9PPG and is a sinking more than three and a half shots a game from the outside. He scored just eight against St. John’s. Their ability to shutdown Howard was key to Marquette’s loss.
Howard carries this team on his shoulders. The Hauser brothers are good compliments in the frontcourt while the rest of the team has 6.4 PPG or fewer. This is a bit of a top-heavy team though there is more depth here than the Musketeers enjoy.
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Xavier’s defense could have trouble containing Marquette. The Golden Eagles are a ranked team largely on the strength of their offense and solid shooting. The Musketeers will need to find a way to slow down Howard on the outside and minimize the impact of the Hauser brothers underneath.
The KenPom ratings aren’t as optimistic overall about Marquette as the AP rankings and Coaches Poll, but they’re still well ahead of Xavier and boast a solid 111.6 adjusted offensive rating while Xavier’s adjusted defensive rating is just 100.4, ranking No.122.
Watch how well Marquette is able to exploit the Musketeer defense early and keep an eye on the spread and total. There are also plenty of live betting opportunities at BookMaker.eu.
Key Player
It’s easy to point to the best player on the court as the key, but that couldn’t be truer than it is in this game. Markus Howard is the key.
Howard was held to 2-for-15 shooting from the floor for just eight points and one assist in the loss to St. John’s. He played 26 minutes, but couldn’t get anything going. Joey Hauser scored 15 and Sam Hauser added 10. They both did their jobs, but Howard came up short. As such, the Golden Eagles were dominated in the backcourt while holding their own inside.
Howard needs to have a good game and carry Marquette for the Golden Eagles to find success. His eight points scored against St. John’s is a season low. Prior to that loss, Howard had scored at least 21 in six straights including two separate 45-point performances against a pair of ranked team in Kansas State and Buffalo.
As Howard goes so go the Golden Eagles.
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The Musketeers may be able to keep this game close through the first half, but look for Howard and the Golden Eagles to pile it on in the second half for a solid win at home.
The Hauser brother should be able to do their thing inside against Xavier while Howard runs wild on the perimeter. Xavier’s defense isn’t strong enough to slow him down. He’ll also be rather determined to bounce back in a big way from his disappointing play last time out.
Look for the Musketeers to target him early defensive and while that may slow him early, the rest of the team should step up around him.
When it’s all*s aid and done, Marquette has the better top-end talent and the deeper roster. They should get the win at home.
Be sure to check out all of the live betting at BookMaker.eu for this weekend’s college basketball action.
NCAA Basketball Score Prediction: Marquette 85, Xavier 72
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