On Wednesday, Villanova will travel to Marquette to renew what has quietly become one of the better rivalries in the new Big East. In 2018-19, these two teams battled for the Big East title while splitting their two meetings: a 66-65 win for Marquette and a 67-61 win for ‘Nova. The Golden Eagles had less success in the conference in 2019-20, but the games between these teams were still intense. Marquette won 71-60 at home while ‘Nova took a 72-71 win on its home floor. “We’ve had tough games with them up there, they’re always a tough matchup for us,” Jay Wright said.
This year’s Marquette team comes into this game with a 5-4 record, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Each of those four losses came against a top 51 KenPom team and two of them were tough road losses against UCLA and Xavier. The Golden Eagles also have two of the more impressive wins of the young season with victories over Wisconsin and Creighton.
“This Marquette team is really good,” Wright said. “Their losses have been really tight games against very good teams where they’ve had a shot. Two dynamic guards (D.J.) Carton and (Koby) McEwen and Theo John’s always given us trouble defensively especially blocking shots. (Jamal) Cain’s been around a long time and the two freshmen (Dawson Garcia, Justin Lewis) are outstanding, just a really talented team.”
McEwen leads the way for Marquette with 15.2 points per game. He’s also connected on 44.4% of his 3-point attempts. Garcia chips in 13.1 points per game and is one of four Golden Eagles averaging at least six rebounds per game (6.6). “Garcia is a McDonald’s All-American; we knew he was really good,” Wright said of the freshman. “He has fit in extremely well. It’s one thing to be a McDonald’s All-American, you still have to go to the next level and you still have to be able to execute at that level. His skill is allowing him to play on the perimeter and inside at this level immediately, it’s very impressive.”
Carton rounds out the double-figure scorers for Marquette with 12 ppg. He also leads the team with 3.8 assists per game. Cain adds 9.6 points and 6.6 rebounds while Lewis chips in 8.6 points and 6.6 rebounds. “Lewis, we knew he was good,” Wright said. “He improved so much from his senior year in high school 'til now, he was good coming out of high school but he’s really good. He’s as talented as Garcia.”
Jermaine Samuels noticed the talent of Garcia and Lewis as well. “They’re really, really good forwards,” Samuels said. “Very physical as well. Can do it all.”
Theo John is averaging 8.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and two blocks per game. Two other Golden Eagles average double-figure minutes: Greg Elliott (5.2 ppg) and Symir Torrence (3.7 ppg).
Three clear strengths stand out for the Golden Eagles: 3-point shooting, rebounding, and 2-point defense. Marquette is connecting on 38.6% from beyond the arc, averaging 39.6 rebounds per night and grabbing 34.5% of offensive rebound opportunities, and is holding opponents to 43.4% on 2-point tries. Part of that 2-point defense is Marquette’s 4.3 blocks per game and 12.3% block percentage. Eight different Golden Eagles have recorded at least one block this season.
Areas of vulnerability for Marquette include 3-point defense and turnovers.
Opponents are hitting 33.8% from deep against Marquette, a number that ranks 192nd in the country. 34.6% of opponents’ points have come from beyond the arc.
More concerning for Marquette is the turnover numbers, in terms of both committing and forcing miscues. The Golden Eagles average 14.3 turnovers per game and have turned it over on 20.7% of possessions. Like Villanova, Marquette hasn’t forced a ton of turnovers either. Opponents have turned the ball over on just 15.7% of possessions, which ranks 295th in the country.
While we’ll definitely be keeping an eye on the rebounding battle, we’ll be paying extra attention to the turnovers and 3-point shooting.
While neither Villanova nor Marquette have forced a ton of turnovers, Villanova has been excellent taking care of the ball. In Marquette’s four losses it has averaged 17 turnovers, while that number drops to 12.2 in wins.
Likewise, the Golden Eagles have shot well below their season average of 38.6% from 3 in losses, connecting on just 32.1%.
Marquette is loaded with talent and has nice balance and will be looking to bounce back from consecutive tough losses to Seton Hall and Xavier. Villanova is aware of Marquette’s capabilities and is looking forward to the challenge. “They have a lot of experienced players and they’ve been playing well this season,” Jeremiah Robinson-Earl said. “A bunch of great wins, close losses to really good teams. So, we just have to keep the same mindset we bring to every game, just having a Villanova road attitude and just going out and playing for 40 minutes and it should be a good game.”
Someone will emerge with a key Big East win, and it should be a fun ride.
“We’ve had really great games with them,” Wright said. “Gonna be a hell of a game.”
The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip on FS1.
