Marquette's Markus Howard Scored 34 Points In Win Against Xavier
MBB Minute -- Villanova Clinches Tie For Regular-Season Crown, Marquette's Howard Scores 34 In Win
No. 2/2 Villanova ended the first half with an 11-1 run and started the second half with an 11-0 spurt to pull away from Seton Hall and record a 92-70 victory in front of a record crowd of 16,733 at Prudential Center. The win clinched a tie for the BIG EAST regular-season crown, a league record fourth in a row for the Wildcats.
Villanova’s Jalen Brunson shot 7-of-7 from the floor and finished with 22 points and a career-high 10 assists. Kris Jenkins also connected for 22 points with Josh Hart adding 19. Seton Hall’s Khadeen Carrington, coming off a 41-point effort in Wednesday’s win against Creighton, had 22 points. Angel Delgado posted his 21
st double-double of the season with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Marquette’s Markus Howard set a school record for a true freshman by scoring 34 points to lead the Golden Eagles past Xavier 83-61 before a sellout crowd of 19,033 at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Howard also tied a BIG EAST freshman record of nine 3-pointers made (in 12 attempts). Seton Hall’s Shaheen Holloway, now a Pirate assistant coach, made 9 against Boston College on Jan. 4, 1997. Andrew Rowsey added 18 points and seven assists. Xavier had four frontcourt players reach double figures – Sean O’Mara (14 points), Tyrique Jones (13), RaShid Gaston (12) and Kaiser Gates (11). Top scorer Trevon Bluiett missed his second straight game with an ankle injury.
Sunday’s two contests are part of an FS1 doubleheader. No. 25/24 Butler hosts DePaul at 1:30 p.m. ET. The Bulldogs, 9-5 in the BIG EAST, can maintain second place with a victory. The Bulldogs notched their 11
th 20-win season in the last 12 years when they beat St. John’s 110-86 on Wednesday. In their first meeting against DePaul, the Bulldogs pulled out a 70-69 overtime win at Allstate Arena on Jan. 20. DePaul’s Eli Cain had 32 points in the loss.
No. 20/22 Creighton will look to turn the tables on Georgetown at a sold-out CenturyLink Center. The Hoyas beat the Bluejays 71-51 on Jan. 25. Georgetown’s Rodney Pryor ranks second in the BIG EAST in scoring with an 18.3 average and Creighton’s Marcus Foster is third at 18.3 ppg. Creighton has won 28 straight Sunday home games. The Hoyas have won four of their last six contests.