Marquette looks to get over the hump and claim its first Big East victory on Wednesday when Xavier comes to Milwaukee.
The losing streak sits at six for Marquette (5-10, 0-4) after Sunday’s 73-57 loss at No. 4 UConn. The Golden Eagles haven’t gone this long without a win since the 2014-15 season.
Nigel James Jr. led the way with 15 points, but on an inefficient 5-for-18 from the floor. Chase Ross’ struggles over the last month continued as he scored 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting, which included 0-for-4 from beyond the arc.
During the six-game rut, Ross (16.3 ppg) has hit just 27.0% from the field and 4 of 24 shots from 3-point range.
“We have to score more than 57 points,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said. “Around the basket we need to finish better. The stretches of the game where we were lost in the moment and competing as a group of five, I liked the look in their eyes. We just didn’t do it consistently enough.”
Xavier (9-6, 1-3) also has endured a tough start to Big East play. The Musketeers opened conference play with a 41-point home loss to Creighton. They come into this game having lost two in a row after falling 86-77 on Saturday at DePaul.
Tre Carroll led the Musketeers with 17 on 7-of-16 shooting. Roddie Anderson III added 15 while Filip Borovicanin scored 10 with 10 boards.
Senior Malik Messina-Moore has been Xavier’s most prolific scorer in league play with 14.5 points per game. For the year, he leads the Big East with his 3.35 assist-to-turnover ratio.
This rivalry was a fun one last year when each of their three matchups was decided by two points. Each team won on the road, then Marquette took the Big East quarterfinal, 89-87, at Madison Square Garden.
That was the final win for Marquette’s senior trio of Kam Jones, Stevie Mitchell and David Joplin — who combined for 58 points that day — while Ross added 16.
–Field Level Media
