UConn vs Marquette: 2020-21 college basketball game preview, TV schedule
UConn will open up the new year with a three-game road trip starting with Marquette on Tuesday night.
TV Schedule: Tuesday, January 5th, 9 pm ET, FS1
Arena: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, WI
Tuesday night will feature a Big East Conference showdown with two teams that are desperate to build their resume towards a potential NCAA Tournament bid.
The UConn Huskies (4-1, 1-1 Big East) will travel to Milwaukee to face the Marquette Golden Eagles (6-5, 2-3 Big East). This matchup will be the Huskies’ first of three road games out in the Midwest during a six-day span.
With UConn back in the Big East, this matchup will be just the 10th time that UConn and Marquette have faced each other. The Golden Eagles currently lead the all-time series 6-3. Marquette has won the last three meetings, which were in 2011, 2012, and 2013.
Rising star shooting guard, James Bouknight (23.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg), is making his name known for UConn. Bouknight will enter Tuesday’s matchup as the Big East’s leading scorer this season. In his five games, he has scored at least 18 points.
Bouknight’s most impressive game of his career was against nationally-ranked Creighton when he scored a career-high 40 points and made five three-point shots. Marquette’s defense will have to key in on Bouknight to limit him during the matchup.
In a crucial matchup against Marquette, UConn will need players to step up and be able to produce. Behind Bouknight in the lineup, the Huskies’ second scoring option has been a work in progress to find on the roster.
However, Rhode Island transfer and junior guard, Tyrese Martin (10.3 ppg, 9.3 rpg), has shown that he could be a potential second breakout scoring option behind Bouknight in the lineup. During their last game against DePaul, Martin scored a season-high 22 points and 10 rebounds against the Blue Demons.
This season, UConn’s defense has been its strong suit. The Huskies are currently leading the conference in opponents shooting percentage, allowing their opponents to convert on just 39.8 percent of their shots.
One key defensive contributor for the Huskies on the interior is senior forward, Isaiah Whaley (8.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg). Whaley will enter Tuesday’s matchup Top 5 in the conference with 2.4 blocks per game.
For Marquette, the Golden Eagles will enter Tuesday night as the top shooting team in the Big East, converting on 47.6 percent of their shots through five conference games.
On Saturday, Marquette was able to come back from 16 points down against Georgetown to secure the victory against the Hoyas 64-60. Senior forward, Jamal Cain (11.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg), scored 25 points, making four of Marquette’s five three-point shots as a team.
The Golden Eagles struggled with making their three-point shots against Georgetown and the game turned out closer than expected because of it. When Marquette can get hot shooting, they can do damage, as seen when they made 12 three-point shots with five players scoring in double figures during their victory at Creighton.
Marquette has multiple players on the roster who can produce offensively. Entering Tuesday’s matchup, the Golden Eagles will have four players who are currently scoring over 11 points per game with senior guard, Koby McEwen (13.5 ppg), freshman forward, Dawson Garcia (12.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg), senior forward, Jamal Cain, and sophomore guard, D.J. Carton (11.4 ppg, 3.6 apg).
The story at the beginning of the season was Marquette’s defense, which allowed 63.1 points per game to their opponents during their first six games.
However, as Big East play got underway, the Golden Eagles have had trouble defending the perimeter, allowing a league-worst of an average of 10.8 made three-point shots to their opponents while giving up an average of 78 points per game to conference opponents.
Still, Tuesday’s game should make for a great matchup between the number one Big East perimeter defense with UConn, versus the number one Big East perimeter attack with Marquette.
This matchup is crucial for both teams towards putting together their NCAA Tournament resume for March.
UConn has played a small sample size of a schedule and should be taken seriously, as they were able to prove that they could hang in with nationally ranked Creighton, after not playing a single game in 17 days due to going on pause.
Marquette will be an interesting team for the March Madness selection committee to decide their fate when determining at-large bids. The Golden Eagles will enter Tuesday’s matchup one game above .500 overall, with strong victories against Wisconsin and Creighton, but lost by 17-points against Villanova.
dark. Next. Latest Big East power rankings
Knowing what’s at stake at the beginning of January, every game counts from here on out in the Big East to determine who will make it into the Big Dance.
Prediction: UConn 72, Marquette 66