No. 11/10 Marquette Travels To Providence Saturday at 11 a.m. CT

The No. 11/10 Marquette University men's basketball team (22-4, 11-2 BIG EAST) opens a two-game BIG EAST road swing at Providence (15-12, 5-9 BIG EAST) on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 11 a.m. in the Dunkin' Donuts Center. FOX will feature the national television broadcast, with Gus Johnson (play-by-play) and Jim Jackson (analyst) calling the action. Following Saturday's action, the Golden Eagles will travel to Villanova on Wednesday, Feb. 27 for a showdown between the league's top-two teams in the standings.

Series With Friars Full Of Memories

While the all-time series between Marquette and Providence consists of just 27 games (Marquette leads 18-9), the matchups do include 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 four years later 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.

Guard Markus Howard added to the series' memorable moments on Jan. 3, 2018 when he netted a then school and BIG EAST record 52 points in the 95-90 overtime victory by Marquette at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. In the first meeting this year, a 79-68 win by MU at Fiserv Forum, forward Sam Hauser led the way with 25 points and Howard chipped in 24 points.

Of the last 10 meetings between the two programs, seven have been decided by five points-or-less, including three overtime matchups.

MU Reaching New Home, Road Win Totals

Marquette has already claimed the programs 38th 20-win season and is now looking to set new marks for home and road victories.

The Golden Eagles are 16-1 at Fiserv Forum, matching the most home wins since the 2012-13 team finished 16-0. Since joining the BIG EAST, the team has yet to claim six road victories in league play (5-1 this year).

John Puts Name In Mix For Top Defensive Player

Sophomore center Theo John has emerged as one of the top shot-blocking threats in the country and as a result has put his name in the mix for not only the league's top defensive player accolade, but also the BIG EAST's most improved player honor.

The Minneapolis, Minnesota native is currently first in the league in blocks per game (2.4), good enough for 17th in the nation. That mark jumps to 2.7 swats per contest in BIG EAST play, where he is in possession of the single-game high (6, twice against DePaul) in conference action.

For the season, John is contributing 6.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game in 20.3 minutes per outing and has started 25-of-26 games. He recorded his fourth double-double (vs. UMBC, vs. Seton Hall, vs. DePaul) of the campaign in the win over Butler, finishing with 15 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots in 32 minutes of action. He was 6-of-7 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe.

As a freshman, he appeared off the bench in 33 contests and chipped in just 3.9 points and 2.3 boards in 11.8 minutes per night.