 led by 11 points at halftime and showed no signs of letting up, shooting 53.6 percent in the second half to finish at 54.9 percent for the game. Anim went 8 for 12 and Hauser 7 for 10 for Marquette, which got 14 points on 2-of-12 shooting from leading scorer Markus Howard.Alpha Diallo had 19 points and six rebounds for the Friars (15-13, 5-10 Big East). Providence went from shooting 27.6 percent in the first half to 50 percent in the second half, yet Marquette proved too tough a cover on a day that the Golden Eagles had five players in double figures.Joey Hauser had 15 points and Markus Howard added 14 for Marquette.Marquette put the game away after Providence moved to within 40-33 early in the second half. On three straight trips to the basket, the Golden Eagles connected from deep, with a 3-pointer from Howard allowing the visitors to take a 58-37 lead with 10:54 remaining.The Golden Eagles shot 10 of 21 from 3-point range while the Friars went 6 of 20.TOUGH OUT NO MATTER WHEREMarquette is 16-1 at Fiserv Forum, matching the most home wins in a single season since the 2012-13 team finished 16-0. Saturday saw the Golden Eagles pick up their sixth road win in league play versus one defeat. The six road wins against conference foes represents the most in a single season since Marquette joined the Big East in 2005.TAKE A BOWDuring halftime, Providence honored a dozen former student-athletes who were inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame. Included in the Class of 2019 was Jamel Thomas, who played a key role on the team that came close to reaching the Final Four in 1997. Thomas ranks sixth on Providence's all-time scoring list (1,971 points).STIFF COMPETITIONThe Big East entered Saturday's action as the only Division I conference in the nation with every team owning an overall winning record.UP NEXTMarquette travels to defending national champion Villanova on Wednesday. It will be a rematch of a game the Golden Eagles won 66-65 on Feb. 9 in Milwaukee.Providence is at Butler on Tuesday. The Friars and Bulldogs have yet to play each other.---More college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/-Top25)
Feb 22, 2019Excuse the arena security staff if they are instructed to lock the doors to the Dunkin' Donuts Center when they see Markus Howard approaching.The Marquette junior guard set a then-school record and matched the then-Big East record with 52 points in last season's appearance in Providence, and he is back to try to torment the Friars again when the teams meet Saturday in the Rhode Island capital.Howard has since broken the marks with a 53-point effort against Creighton earlier this season, but few have forgotten his stunning performance in the 95-90 overtime win against Providence.The 5-foot-11 Howard was 17 of 29 shooting -- matching his school record of 11 3-pointers -- and drained all seven free-throw attempts in a show-stopping performance.Howard is averaging 25.7 points this season as the No. 11 Golden Eagles (22-4, 11-2 Big East) attempt to maintain their conference lead over Villanova. Marquette has a half-game edge.Howard is small in stature but long on accolades. He ranks fourth in school history with 1,772 career points -- one behind third-place George Thompson (1966-69) -- and is on track to become the school's first 2,000-point scorer.He is also more consumed by the win column than his growing point total."I just think us as a team, we're getting better each and every day," Howard told reporters. "I have great teammates that allow me to do what I'm able to do. But without them, what I do is impossible." Howard made six 3-pointers and poured in 28 points as Marquette registered a 79-69 home win over Butler on Wednesday.Sophomore forward Theo John took advantage of Butler's attempts to double-team Howard by contributing 15 points, a career-best 11 rebounds and three blocked shots."Teams have to dedicate a lot to our shooting, and teams have to dedicate a lot to Markus Howard, in particular," Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski said after the contest. "A lot of times, the second defender on Markus is the opposing team's center. So, when we got the ball out of the trap, Theo was open. To his credit, he was able to finish." Howard was "held" to 24 points on 4-of-15 shooting in this season's first meeting with Providence -- a 79-68 home win for the Golden Eagles on Jan. 20. Junior forward Sam Hauser, who averages 15.1 points and a team-leading 6.7 rebounds, led Marquette with 25 points.Sophomore center Nate Watson had 21 points -- tying his career high -- for the Friars. Junior guard Alpha Diallo scored 16 points.Watson, who averages 11.7 points, also had 21 points on Wednesday as Providence (15-12, 5-9) rolled to a 78-59 victory over St. John's. The win was just the second in the past seven games for the Friars."I was just proud of our guys' attitude," Providence coach Ed Cooley said afterward. "It's easy to fold up the chairs when you're not playing well. We didn't come off a great performance so I thought our players showed great resilience." Diallo had 16 points and 11 rebounds against St. John's and leads the Friars in scoring (16.4), rebounding (8.1) and assists (3.1).Providence's postseason aspirations are shaky after the recent slump, but Cooley feels a strong finishing kick could change things."Young men are resilient," Cooley said. "It's not how you start, and it's a cliche, but we're trying to finish strong. In our league anybody can beat anybody on a given night, as you see."You have to bring your hard hat every game and that's what makes March so much fun. Everybody is going to have an opportunity." --Field Level Media
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