After they celebrated New 12 months’s Eve with victories, two of the highest groups within the Huge East will go at it in Milwaukee when No. 8 Marquette hosts Creighton on Friday night time.
Marquette (12-2, 3-0 Huge East) took care of Windfall on the street on Tuesday, dominating 78-50. It was the Golden Eagles’ first win at Windfall in six seasons.
Kam Jones led the best way with 18 factors and 10 assists together with his former backcourt mate and now New York Knicks rookie Tyler Kolek watching from the stands.
“He is a keen passer, that is a very powerful factor,” Marquette coach Shaka Sensible mentioned. “You noticed Tyler sitting there, anytime you may have an elite passer like him, it is contagious. Kam is passing the ball much like the best way he did however it’s essential he stays aggressive together with his scoring.”
Creighton (9-5, 2-1) needed to sweat it out in opposition to St. John’s at dwelling on Tuesday, claiming the 57-56 victory in a defensive battle.
The Bluejays gained regardless of committing 19 turnovers, together with 10 alone from Steven Ashworth, who additionally led the workforce in scoring with 18 on 6-for-18 taking pictures from the ground.
“Some days you simply haven’t got your stuff and must discover a method,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott mentioned. “We went on a 10-12-minute stretch the place we did not flip it over and have been capable of settle in.”
Ryan Kalkbrenner and Ashworth lead Creighton with 17.2 and 17.1 factors per recreation, respectively. Ashworth dishes 6.2 assists and Kalkbrenner grabs 7.8 rebounds per recreation.
Jones leads Marquette and is second within the Huge East in each factors (20.1) and assists (6.6) per recreation.
Offensively these groups are comparable, with Marquette averaging 80.5 and Creighton averaging 75.4 factors per recreation. Nonetheless, Creighton has been a lot much less constant.
After scoring not less than 73 in 5 straight video games, the Bluejays have scored 57 in two of their final three. In addition they scored simply 53 in a loss to San Diego State in late November.
The first concern for Creighton is turnovers, because the Bluejays common simply shy of 14 and have dedicated fewer than 10 solely as soon as this 12 months, once they beat Villanova on Dec. 21 (seven).
Marquette, however, forces a median of 16.4 turnovers defensively and commits simply 8.9, averaging 20.1 factors off turnovers as nicely.
The place Creighton could discover a bonus is down low, the place they constantly outrebound opponents whereas Marquette is true about even, and not using a true large man to match up with Kalkbrenner.
The all-time matchup between these groups dates again to 1923, with Marquette main 59-40.
The collection has swung backwards and forwards as of late. Marquette had gained three in a row previous to the final matchup in March, when Creighton gained 89-75 at dwelling.
With out Kolek or Oso Ighodaro capable of play, Jones scored 23 whereas David Joplin added 21 for Marquette. Kalkbrenner scored 19 with six boards for the Bluejays.
The harm report is clear for each groups. Marquette nonetheless awaits the return of reserve level guard Sean Jones, who is predicted again quickly following ACL surgical procedure final season. He has already been given clearance to return to full follow with the workforce.
–Area Degree Media
