Marquette Basketball: 2017-18 season preview for the Golden Eagles

Starting Lineup – Backcourt

Markus Howard

Howard will look to build off a strong freshman season where he led Marquette in scoring (13.2 ppg). The 5’11″ guard shot a blistering 55% from three (82 makes), which ranked tops in the country. This mix of volume and efficiency is incredible for any player, let alone a freshman. It is important to acknowledge that he is not only a shooter, though. He can attack the basket and finish at the rim as well. Howard only played 22 minutes per game last season, but with Johnson, Reinhardt, and Wilson out of the picture, he should see a significant bump in playing time.

This increase in playing time will make Howard a dark horse for leading the Big East in scoring and 18-20ppg could be realistic for the talented sophomore. In terms of weaknesses, Howard struggles defensively due to his lack of size and is more of a scoring guard than a true point guard. Howard only averaged 2.3 apg, which is low for a starting PG. If Howard can improve his shortcomings, he will be in consideration for First-Team All-Conference honors.

Andrew Rowsey

Like Howard, Rowsey is an undersized scoring guard who shoots the ball extremely well. The 5’11″ guard transferred to Marquette after two seasons at UNC-Asheville, where he put up huge numbers. Rowsey averaged 20.3 ppg as a freshman and 19.2 ppg as a sophomore and proved his scoring abilities could translate to the Big East as a junior. He averaged 11.6 ppg and made 71 threes at a 45% clip. Rowsey is more of a scoring guard as he only averaged 2.3apg. Rowsey and Howard played together quite often last season even though both players are undersized and struggle defensively. Coach Wojo banked on their shooting prowess making up for their weak defense and this strategy helped Marquette return to the NCAA Tournament. 14-15 ppg seems realistic for Rowsey since should play even more this season.