Alex DerVartanian

Marquette’s Chances in the Big East

Marquette is not a huge favorite going into the Big East tournament, but have a chance. Marquette is ranked as the number four seed.  Now over the past five games they have played, they are 4-1. This is good if they can make a strong finish to the season at 5-1 beating Seton Hall. Seton hall is the number four team with a 10-8 record along with Marquette, Creighton, and Providence. Providence is right above them at the number 3 seed with the same record at 10-8. In Marquette’s season, they are 1-1 against Seton Hall. The first game they lost with a score of 69-67. The second game which was the most recent they won with a score of 89-86 in OT. Key players in this game were Markus Howard who had a 22-point game and Katin Reinhardt with 4 big free throws in the final 29 seconds of the game.  Seton Halls best player that night was Desi Rodriguez with 30 points. If Marquette can shut him down and keep their offense rolling, then they will be a big favorite for Thursdays game.

With a big win on Thursday, they will be going up against Villanova in the semi finals. This is going to be their hardest game of the season playing the number one team in the Big East. According to their past this season they are 1-1 against Villanova. Marquette has been apart of Villanova’s staggering three losses this year which opens the door for some chance. Their win was only by two points with a final of 74-72. Again in this game like the other one against Seton Hall, Katin Reinhardt was a key factor with 19 points and he came in clutch hitting two free throws with 11.6 seconds left in the game which ended up winning he game for them. Marquette came back from a 17-point deficit. Katin Reinhardt is a key man in this Marquette basketball team and to keep him healthy throughout these next games will be a blessing. In the end, Villanova is a big favorite, but with Marquette having won four of their last five games could spill trouble for Villanova.

Marquette’s key players to look out for are Markus Howard, Katin Reinhardt, and Jajuan Johnson. Markus Howard, who is 5’ 11” 175lbs, is their best scorer. He averages 13.1 points a game. Keeping him strong and healthy to finish the season is a big must for Marquette. Most of their games ahead should be close so they need to score a many points as they can.

Katin Reinhardt is the clutch guy on the team. With an average of 10.9 points per game, he is close with Markus Howard to score a good chunk of the teams points if he has a good day. Also, Katin has saved them twice this season against two good teams. They are playing both of those teams in the quarter finals and the semi finals, if they even make it to the semi finals. If these games are close towards the end, he should be the guy to get the ball to when they need to score. Against Villanova during both of the games his three point shots were at 9-17. You can put him in a spot to hit a little more than half of the shots he gets.

Jajuan Johnson is another strong point scorer on this team averaging 12.0 points a game this season. Being 6’ 5” and 205 pounds puts him in a good spot to catch a lot of rebounds. Averaging 4.1 rebounds a game. Jajuan needs to be very physical in these upcoming games to give his team the most chances to score.