Marquette is in the midst of their toughest stretch of the season, a two game series that they will also end their season on. Things didn’t go too well for the Golden Eagles against UConn, falling 77-69.
Now, on just two days rest, they now have to prepare to face an even better St. John’s team, on the road no less.
Top 25 Loss
Marquette sits at 18-4 (9-2). The Huskies handed them their second conference loss, with the only other being to Xavier. UConn beat Marquette in all three of their meetings last season, and this year was no different. The two teams will meet again on March 5th in Marquette’s penultimate game, but this recent loss will sting for a bit.
The Golden Eagles got off to a slow start on Saturday night, something they were never able to recover from. UConn led 42-29 at the half, and Marquette’s 40 point second half performance was only enough to cut the losing deficit to 8.
Shooting Percentage
Kam Jones and Chase Ross combined for 41 points, but it wasn’t nearly enough. UConn shot 59.5% from the field, and a mesmerizing 63.2% from three points range. The Huskies doubled that of Marquette, as the Golden Eagles were just 7-22 (31.8%).
Solo Ball was the main contributor to UConn’s success, shooting 7-9 from three. 21 of his 25 points came from three point range, and he led all scorers with not only his 25 points, but 11 rebounds as well. Alex Karaban was the lone player to play all 40 minutes, adding 15 points. Six of his 15 came from the free throw line, another contributing factor to the Huskies success. Karaban, Ball, and Samson Johnson combined 15-15 from the charity stripe.
St. John’s Winning Streak
The Red Storm are no joke. They truly are taking the world by storm, having not lost a game since New Years Eve. Their eight game winning streak has improved them to 19-3 (10-1).
Tuesday and Friday is no easy stretch for St. John’s, and it’s a chance for them to prove that the Big East is their conference to lose. With the Marquette game looming, St. John’s will play at UConn on Friday night. This two game streak will define their season, or could leave UConn matching both teams at the top of the standings.
X-Factors
Providence is not a good team, and they took St. John’s to their absolute limit. While the Friars only scored 21 points in the first half, but St. John’s allowed them to drop 45 in the second.
RJ Luis Jr. is St. John’s leading scorer even after a three game stretch of not scoring more than 20 points. His 7-14 shooting performance left a lot to be desired, but Kadary Richmond picked up the slack. Richmond and RJ both had 8 rebounds, but Richmond had 8 assists to go along with a team high 24 points.
Richmond was 10-14, the lone bright spot in St. John’s 26-68 shooting performance. Providence shot better from the field, three, and free throws, but still fell 68-66.
Marquette’s Redemption
With Ejiofor shooting 5-12, Wilcher shooting 2-10, and Smith just 1-10, Marquette is foaming at the mouth. For a team that prides themselves on their defense, the Golden Eagles are going to try and replicate the performance of Providence.
Marquette absolutely needs to win on Tuesday night. They have not lost back to back games since March 2nd and March 26th in 2024. St. John’s will look to hand them their second consecutive loss for the first time in nearly a year. It’s no easy task for Marquette to snap the Red Storm’s winning streak, but they absolutely have what it takes to get the job done.