No. 21/22 #MUBB Hosts Providence Tuesday Night

The No. 21/22 Marquette University men’s basketball team (20-7, 11-5 BIG EAST) returns to Fiserv Forum on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. CT to face Providence (12-15, 6-10 BIG EAST) in league action.  FS1 features the national television broadcast, with Jason Benetti (play-by-play) and Bill Raftery (analyst) calling the action.  Following Tuesday’s outing, the Golden Eagles will wrap up the road portion of the regular season at Georgetown (March 1) and UConn (March 5).

All-Time Series Provides Plenty Of Highlights

The all-time series between Marquette and Providence consists of 40 games (Marquette leads 25-15) and includes a number of memorable contests for MU fans.

The two programs first met in the 1963 National Invitation Tournament and the result was a 70-64 victory by PC.  The teams would cross paths in 1966-67 in the same event and a slim 81-80 Marquette overtime win helped the squad to a runner-up finish under head coach Al McGuire.

Since the teams began meeting in BIG EAST Conference action, series highlights include a game delayed at the Bradley Center when a bat continued to interrupt play on the court, a wet court at PC in 2016-17 that caused numerous stoppages in play, a league record-tying 52-point performance by Markus Howard in 2017-18 at Providence and multiple overtime results.

The Golden Eagles claimed a 78-50 victory on Dec. 31, 2024 in the first meeting this season, with Kam Jones leading the way with 18 points and 10 assists.

Lowery Collects Career Night At Nova  

Sophomore Zaide Lowery had the best game of his young Marquette career Friday night at Villanova, setting personal bests in nearly every statistical category.

The Springfield, Missouri, native finished with 25 points and eight rebounds in 26 minutes of action and knocked down 9-of-10 field goal attempts, marking career highs in each of those categories.  He was 5-of-5 from behind the 3-point line and four of his boards were at the offensive end.

Lowery, who scored 24 combined points in the previous five games, reached double figures for the third time in 55 outings. His 25 points were the most by a bench player since David Joplin scored 28 points at DePaul on Jan. 28, 2023.

Bench Picks Up Recent Production

Fueled by Zaide Lowery’s career-high 25 points, the Marquette reserves contributed 36 points for the second-straight outing at Villanova on Friday night.

In the last two outings, the 10 players to see action off the bench have combined to contribute 36.0 points and 19.0 rebounds per outing while shooting 49.0 percent (25-of-51) from the floor and 13-of-16 (81.3 percent) from the charity stripe.  Lowery led the way with 16.0 points per outing and freshman Damarius Owens has chipped in 6.5 points and 2.5 boards per contest.

Marquette’s season-high point total in bench points is 37, contributed in the Nov. 30, 2024 win (94-62) over Western Carolina.

Continuity Is Key To Recent Success

Since the 2022-23 campaign, Marquette is the only power conference team that hasn’t signed a NCAA Division I transfer, leading to as consistent a starting lineup as any program in the country.

Through games of Feb. 23, Marquette is one of just two squads (St. Mary’s) to feature the same starting lineup (Jones, Mitchell, Joplin, Ross, Gold).  Two years ago, Marquette and Marshall were the only two teams in the country to utilize the same starting five the entire season.

Since the opening contest of the 2022-23 campaign (Kolek, Ighodaro, Prosper, Mitchell, Jones), just eight different players have started a game for MU, the lowest total in all of NCAA Division I.  Of the eight, the three players (Kolek, Ighodaro, Prosper) currently not starting for the team are competing in the NBA.

Joplin, who hasn’t missed an outing in his 131-game career, has a chance to pass Lazar Hayward (138) for most career appearances.  Jones and Mitchell will also finish in the top-10 this season and junior Chase Ross might have a shot at the top spot in 2025-26.

Marquette’s stability has allowed the program to be ranked for 48-straight weeks in the Associated Press Top-25, the fourth-best active streak in the country.  MU was ranked a program-best 166-straight weeks from 1970-80.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.