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Seton Hall vs. Marquette: 2018-19 college basketball game preview, TV schedule

By Brian Foley

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - DECEMBER 21: Markus Howard #0 of the Marquette Golden Eagles attempts a shot while being guarded by Nick Perkins #33 of the Buffalo Bulls in the second half at the Fiserv Forum on December 21, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - DECEMBER 21: Markus Howard #0 of the Marquette Golden Eagles attempts a shot while being guarded by Nick Perkins #33 of the Buffalo Bulls in the second half at the Fiserv Forum on December 21, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
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Seton Hall and Marquette are two of the most electrifying teams in the Big East. Can the Pirates hand the Golden Eagles their first home loss this season?

TV Schedule: Saturday, Jan. 12 at 2 p.m. EST (FS1)
Location: Fiserv Forum (Milwaukee, Wis.)

Hold onto your seats, folks. Not only does this matchup feature two of the three best players in the Big East, Seton Hall (12-4, 3-1) and no. 21 Marquette (13-3, 2-1) have also played some of the most breathtaking, agonizing, and heart-palpitating games in the country this season.

Let’s start with the Golden Eagles, who may have just played the game of the year at Creighton on Wednesday night. The two teams combined for 210 points, 33 three-pointers (on 61 attempts), and the fastest tempo between any two Big East teams this season. Oh yeah, the game also featured a conference record 53 points by Markus Howard, a costly Creighton turnover with 0.8 seconds remaining, and a Sam Hauser buzzer-beating heave to extend the game.

But that’s not the only nerve-wracking game Marquette has won this season. MU pulled out chaotic overtime victories over Louisville and Wisconsin (the Golden Eagles have now won 10 straight OT games over the last four years) and a back-and-forth battle with Buffalo in which the 103-85 score looks more lopsided than the actual game, only because Howard went into supernova mode in the second half.

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Of course, the Pirates have their own case as the heartbreak kids of the Big East this season. Seton Hall has mixed close losses to Saint Louis, Louisville, and DePaul in with nail-biting wins over Grand Canyon, Miami, Kentucky, Rutgers, Maryland, St. John’s, and Butler. All 10 contests – highlighted by the bizarre/lucky/exhausting wins over UK and SJU – were by seven points or less.

Naturally, the insanity level reaches it’s pinnacle when these teams square off; four of the last five Marquette-Seton Hall games have been decided by 15 total points (the anomaly was a 20-point Marquette home win last January).

Saturday’s matchup will feature two of the leading Big East Player of the Year candidates in Howard and Myles Powell. After another routine record-breaking night this week, Howard is averaging 25.8 points and 4.3 assists per game, while shooting 44.7 percent on over nine threes a night. Powell does not have the same ridiculous offensive ceiling – though he has cracked 30 points three times already this season – but he is still tallying 22.8 points per game.

Both players are ball-dominating, high-volume three-point shooters who can also get to the free throw line. In fact, Howard and Powell are two of only three Big East players since 1992-93 to average at least 22 points, 6.5 free throw attempts, and 8 three-point attempts per game (the other player to hit those marks is Boston College’s Troy Bell, the Big East’s all-time leading scorer, in 2002-03).

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These two guards are in rare air right now, and if they perform up to their premier standard this weekend, Big East fans are in for another thrilling treat.

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