Big East Basketball: Top 10 players entering the 2018-19 season

2. Markus Howard, Marquette

2017-18: 20.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.8 apg, 46.4/40.4/93.8 percent shooting

The final names on the list are two of the most prolific scorers in the country. Shamorie Ponds and Howard ranked second and seventh, respectively, in scoring among high-major players last year.

Even at 5-foot-11, Howard can score from all over the court; now he needs to improve his consistency as he enters his junior campaign. Howard dropped at least 25 points in 11 games last year – including 52 at Providence in January – but also failed to crack 15 points 13 times. Marquette won’t need constant superhuman efforts from Howard in 2018-19 with the Golden Eagles’ incredibly deep roster, but if he can consistently hover around 18-22 points and hit timely shots late in games, his scoring will have even more value.

Howard still needs to clean up the other facets of his game, though he isn’t as bad of a defender as he is made out to be. He generally competes on that end of the floor, and last season, as Three Man Weave recently pointed out, Marquette actually fared quite well when he was the lone sub-6-foot guard in the game. The Golden Eagles got into trouble when Andrew Rowsey stepped onto the floor, especially when Rowsey and Howard were paired together in the backcourt (which was most of the time). With Rowsey gone, and a plethora of bigger, defensive-minded guards to play in his stead, Howard’s size issues will be mitigated and his defense should be largely acceptable.