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Big East Basketball: UConn, Seton Hall remains in hunt of latest power rankings

By Salvador Lopez

NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 01: The Big East logo on the floor before a college basketball game between the Xavier Musketeers and the Seton Hall Pirates at the Prudential Center on February 1, 2020 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 01: The Big East logo on the floor before a college basketball game between the Xavier Musketeers and the Seton Hall Pirates at the Prudential Center on February 1, 2020 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
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Marquette Basketball
Big East Basketball Marquette Golden Eagles (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

6. Marquette Golden Eagles (7-6, 3-4 Big East)

After giving up an 18-point lead to lose 65-54 against UConn on January 5th, Marquette was able to close out their last game 79-69 over Providence at the Fiserv Forum on Tuesday.

Marquette had five players reach double figures on Tuesday, with four-star freshman forward, Dawson Garcia (13.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg), leading the Golden Eagles with 20 points. Garcia is coming off two 20-point games in a row against UConn and Providence. He has been by far the most impactful freshman in the conference and is the clear frontrunner for the Big East Freshman of the Year.

Garcia’s interior presence has helped Marquette make the jump from the eighth in the conference last season in two-point shooting defense, to second in the Big East currently in two-point shooting defense, allowing their opponents to convert on 46.6 percent of their two-point shots.

Once again on Tuesday, Marquette’s interior defense proved to be too strong for Providence, holding the Friars to make 15-of-40 two-point shot attempts (37.5 percent).

Last season, it was Markus Howard who led the nation in scoring averaging 27.8 points per game and attempting over 19 shots per game.

This season, Marquette has split the shots evenly between its top four scorers. Dawson Garcia, senior guard, Koby McEwen (13.1 ppg, 3.2 apg), sophomore point guard, D.J. Carton (11.2 ppg, 3.8 apg), and senior forward, Jamal Cain (10.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg), are all averaging around nine shots per game.

While bad losses against bottom tier conference opponents will hurt their tournament resume, Marquette has a great opportunity to put themselves back into the tournament conversation.

During their next five games, Marquette will face all five teams that were placed below them in these power rankings. The Golden Eagles will go on the road to face St. John’s on Saturday, before hosting DePaul the following Saturday.

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