Marquette and Indiana both dream of a conference championship and a deep March run, but first, they’ll meet in Bloomington as part of the fourth annual Gavitt Games.
TV Schedule: Wednesday, Nov. 14 at 8:30 p.m. EST (FS1)
Location: Assembly Hall (Bloomington, Ind.)
While the national championship rematch with the Michigan Wolverines and Villanova Wildcats is clearly the Gavitt Games headliner, Wednesday’s night’s surprisingly rare meeting between the no. 24 Marquette Golden Eagles (2-0) and Indiana Hoosiers (2-0) is nearly as enticing.
Neither program has been tested in 2018-19 season thus far – IU won its two games by an average of 47 points – but there are still storylines to glean from teams that fancy themselves dark horse contenders in their respective conferences.
MU’s Markus Howard and IU’s Juwan Morgan were the notable returning stars atop each roster heading into the season, and in one week, it’s already clear the two upperclassmen have taken additional steps in their development.
Howard is posting eight boards and six assists a night, which are both over twice as high as his 2017-18 marks. Howard’s scoring has never been in question (he is averaging 26 points per game), but it was uncertain whether he could run an offense as the lead guard. In two games, admittedly against bottom-of-the-barrel competition, the junior has piled up 12 assists to only four turnovers. Grad transfer point guard Joseph Chartouny has struggled to find his footing with the Golden Eagles (three assists and five turnovers in 35 total minutes), yet Howard’s emergence as a distributor has temporarily made those issues moot. He won’t average 26-8-6 all season, but his ability to pass, shoot, and rebound as a 5-foot-11 guard have furthered his All-American campaign.
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Down in Bloomington, Indiana’s blowout victories have suppressed Morgan’s totals, but he is now matching his typically efficient scoring with a more diverse all-around game. Morgan is posting 9.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game thus far, which would both be career numbers, despite playing only 22 minutes in both games. Indiana still cannot shoot from the perimeter (31 percent this year, 32 percent last season) and Morgan contributes to those struggles, but the Hoosiers can still build a functional offense if Morgan creates for more than just himself. Indiana features a deep stable of playmakers, including five-star freshman Romeo Langford (15.5 points per game). Five players are averaging at least 2.5 assists for IU.
Marquette has smartly traded in some of its long-range accuracy for size and defense this year, but the Golden Eagles are still loaded with weapons from beyond the arc. Howard bounced back from a poor shooting performance against UMBC by hitting 7 of 10 threes against Bethune-Cookman, and forward Sam Hauser is the nation’s three-point percentage leader over the past two seasons. Joey Hauser and Jamal Cain are also capable spot-up options on drive-and-kicks. Sleep on this version of the Golden Eagles’ offense – now equipped with more interior muscle – at your own peril.
Indiana is 7-2 all-time against Marquette, though the two midwest powers have not met since 2001. The Golden Eagles are also looking for their first-ever wins both in the Gavitt Games and Assembly Hall. This isn’t a must-win game for either team – both squads have plenty of resume-building opportunities throughout the year – but the Hoosiers are probably under a little more pressure with the game at home. Still, Marquette just re-entered the AP top 25 poll for the first time since Dec. 2013, and will not be eager to surrender that number so quickly.
There’s no prediction here – I think Marquette will prove to be a slightly better team over the year, but a rocking Assembly Hall could give Indiana the advantage on Wednesday. The winner will grab some national November headlines, while the loser will at least have a better measuring stick of where its team stacks up against top-tier competition; no one is locking up a tournament bid this week.