As a young and talented team playing in a tough and proven conference, Marquette has been understandably inconsistent this season.
There have been ups and downs, thrilling highs (a one-point win over then-No. 8 Providence on Jan. 5) and deflating lows (a one-point loss to bottom-feeder DePaul on Jan. 20). The streaky Golden Eagles, since Big East play began, have lost two, then won two, then lost three, then won three and then lost two. Sometimes, the vaunted freshman class plays precociously; other times, Henry Ellenson and Co. are quiet nonfactors.
Such is life for second-year head coach Steve Wojciechowski and his fickle, fledgling squad.
But if there’s one thing that even the most unpredictable Marquette team has historically been able to count on, it’s beating Providence at home.
In the all-time series since the two teams first met in the 1963 NIT, the Golden Eagles hold a 15-6 edge over the Friars in 21 games. Of the last 14, they’ve won 12. And, most impressively, Marquette has never lost at home against Providence, winning all nine games played in Milwaukee, including the last six contests by an average of 18.8 points.
That's a streak the hot-and-cold Golden Eagles want to continue.
Marquette (15-9, 4-7) will look to feed off an expectedly electric atmosphere at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Wednesday night and extend the struggles of No. 20 Providence (18-6, 6-5), which has lost two games in a row and three of its last four. The Golden Eagles are 10-5 at home this season.
Still, despite the strong home cooking, it won’t be easy for the hosts. Providence is 6-1 on the road this year, the second-best away mark in the conference. Kris Dunn is second in the league in scoring, at 17.0 points per game, and first in assists (6.7 per game) and steals (3.2). The junior guard will likely be amped up for the rematch with Marquette, after Ellenson blocked his attempted game-winner back on Jan. 5.
Furthermore, the Friars excel in the same statistical category with which the Golden Eagles have had trouble: turnovers. The former leads the Big East with 15.3 takeaways per game, and the latter commits the most turnovers, at 15.4 per game. Marquette had 19 giveaways the last time against Providence, leading to 24 points, and it committed 20 in Saturday’s loss to Xavier, including three straight down the stretch.
Wojciechowski said, "turnovers have been our Achilles’ heel all year. We have some amazing turnovers at costly times."
But if the Golden Eagles take care of the ball and keep Dunn under control, they could prolong Providence’s Milwaukee misery.
Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.
After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.
Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.
