Marquette faces critical game with Providence
The calendar has flipped to February, meaning every college basketball game is critical for teams with hopes of playing in the NCAA Tournament.
Even by February standards, Marquette's game against Providence at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Saturday (1:30 p.m., FS1) is of vital importance for the Golden Eagles (13-9, 4-6 Big East).
A loss to the Friars (14-8, 5-4) would create a daunting path for an at-large NCAA Tournament bid for MU.
Five of the Golden Eagles' final seven games come on the road, including trips to Seton Hall and St. John's next week. MU still has home-and-away matchups with Creighton and its high-octane offense.
A 9-9 conference record likely would have the Golden Eagles feeling confident on Selection Sunday.
But MU can't assume victories over bottom-tier Big East teams St. John's, Georgetown and DePaul after the Golden Eagles' performance in a 92-72 loss to Butler on Wednesday.
"With our group, every learning opportunity is important," MU coach Steve Wojciechowski said. "Because a lot of guys, even beyond our freshmen, it’s the first time going through this in the current roles they’re in.
"We have to learn from it and then we’ve got to get on to the next thing. Because the waves keep coming. The waves are continuing to come to shore. You can’t stay too long with something that’s really good and you can’t stay too long in something that’s obviously not very good."
The loss to the Bulldogs was probably the low ebb of the Golden Eagles' season.
It was ugly in every way imaginable. The Bulldogs shot 60% and also scored 13 second-chance points. MU had 11 assists on 24 field goals with 14 turnovers. Senior guard Andrew Rowsey, averaging 19.5 points per game, was held scoreless.
The Golden Eagles often can overcome persistent defensive issues with their three-point-shooting prowess. But they shot 5 of 18 (27.8%) from beyond the arc against Butler. That marked MU's third-lowest shooting game from deep this season, after losses at Xavier (26.1%) and in Hawaii against Wichita State (27.3%).
It all added up to MU's worst defeat at home since the 2015-'16 season, when the Golden Eagles lost by 20 points to Seton Hall and 28 to Iowa.
“I thought we were very young (against Butler)," Wojciechowski said. "To our guys' credit, with how young we are, we haven’t looked that young very often. (Wednesday) we looked like a JV team.”
MU also will be facing a motivated Providence on Saturday.
The Friars were dominated by Seton Hall, 73-57, on Wednesday in Newark, N.J.
"One of the worst games we’ve played in probably three years at Providence," coach Ed Cooley said.
The Friars surely haven't forgotten that Golden Eagles sophomore guard Markus Howard dropped a Big Eastand MU-record 52 points in the first meeting at the Dunkin' Donuts Center on Jan. 3.
Providence was without leading scorer Rodney Bullock (illness) in MU's 95-90 overtime victory, and point guard Kyron Cartwright was hobbled by an ankle injury even though he finished with 29 points.
Bullock, a 6-foot-7 senior forward, is averaging 15.7 points per game. Cartwright, a 5-11 senior point guard, puts up 11 points and 6.2 assists per game.
That duo will pose a similar challenge to the beleaguered MU defense that Butler's Kelan Martin and Kamar Baldwin did Wednesday.
Containing the Providence pair likely will be key for MU on Saturday. The Golden Eagles' postseason hopes could be riding on it.
Welcome to February.