Busting Brackets
Fansided

Marquette Basketball: Reviewing 2019-20 non-conference schedule

By Brian Foley

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - DECEMBER 08: Theo John #4 of the Marquette Golden Eagles dribbles the ball while being guarded by Nate Reuvers #35 of the Wisconsin Badgers in the second half at the Fiserv Forum on December 08, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - DECEMBER 08: Theo John #4 of the Marquette Golden Eagles dribbles the ball while being guarded by Nate Reuvers #35 of the Wisconsin Badgers in the second half at the Fiserv Forum on December 08, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
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LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – MARCH 28: Nojel Eastern #20 of the Purdue Boilermakers goes up for a layup against the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament South Regional at the KFC YUM! Center on March 28, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – MARCH 28: Nojel Eastern #20 of the Purdue Boilermakers goes up for a layup against the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament South Regional at the KFC YUM! Center on March 28, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Nov. 13 vs. Purdue (Gavitt Tip-Off Games)

Last Year: 26-10 (16-4 Big Ten)
NCAA Tournament: 3 seed, Elite Eight
2019-20 Projection: 8th

Similarly to Marquette’s NCAA tournament struggles in the Wojo era, MU fans simply have to be hoping for a decent showing in a Gavitt Game.

In the inaugural edition of the event, Iowa housed MU by 28 points in Milwaukee. In 2017, Purdue made the trip north and cruised to a 15-point victory. Last year, in Marquette’s first game as a ranked team in Wojciechowski’s tenure, the Golden Eagles lost 96-73 to an undermanned Indiana squad in Bloomington. Of the 15 Big East and Big Ten teams to participate in at least three Gavitt Games thus far, MU is the only program who has failed to win a single meeting. And now a tested Purdue group – who figures to compete in the Big Ten even without Carsen Edwards – is returning to Milwaukee with a very real chance at lengthening the Golden Eagles’ slump.

Juniors Matt Haarms (9.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg) and Nojel Eastern (7.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg) are the Boilermakers’ top two returning players, but High Point grad transfer Jahaad Proctor (19.5 ppg) will be the key to Purdue’s post-Edwards survival. Relying heavily on grad transfers is notoriously fickle, yet Proctor’s ability to score from every level of the floor (34 percent shooting from three, 77 percent from the line, 54 percent on two-point jumpers, and 54 percent at the rim) will be very difficult to defend. He was also just 1 of 11 players to finish with an assist rate above 22 percent and a turnover rate below 14 percent last season.

Marquette will have a load of options to toss at the 6-foot-3 Proctor, including Sacar Anim, Brendan Bailey, Greg Elliott (if healthy), and Koby McEwen, but this will be an early defensive test for a confident, yet largely unproven group.

Purdue is 9-0 against Marquette all-time; that is MU’s only winless mark against any program whom it has faced at least three times.

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