No. 16/15 Marquette Heads To Seton Hall Wednesday Night

The No. 16/15 Marquette University men's basketball team (23-6, 12-4 BIG EAST) wrap up the road portion of its regular-season schedule Wednesday night when the squad travels to Seton Hall (16-12, 7-9 BIG EAST) for a 5:30 p.m. CT opening tip at the Prudential Center. FS1 will feature the television broadcast, with Brian Custer (play-by-play) and Bill Raftery (analyst) calling the action. Following Wednesday's outing, the Golden Eagles will celebrate Senior Day on March 9 against Georgetown.

Series With Pirates Dates Back To 1956

The Golden Eagles lead the all-time series with Seton Hall, 19-7, with all but one of the matchups coming after MU joined the BIG EAST Conference in 2005-06.

SHU opened the series with a 96-78 victory over Marquette on March 17, 1956 in MU's first-ever appearance in the National Invitation Tournament in New York. The next meeting wouldn't come until 50 years later when Marquette moved to the BIG EAST.

The Golden Eagles held off the Pirates 70-66 in the first meeting this season on Jan. 12 at Fiserv Forum. Guard Markus Howard led all players with 26 points and center Theo John chipped in 10 points and 11 rebounds.

MU Looks For At Least Share Of League Title

As the final week of the regular season begins, Marquette has already clinched a top-two finish in the league and now has its sights set on the program's first-ever outright BIG EAST title.

Wins in each of the last two outings would assure Marquette (12-4) at least a share of the championship with Villanova, who concludes the regular season at Seton Hall on March 9. Two MU victories and a loss by the Wildcats would give the Golden Eagles the outright championship.

The Golden Eagles earned a three-way share of first place with Georgetown and Louisville in 2012-13, but tiebreakers gave MU the No. 3 seed in the tourney. MU has never been higher than the No. 2 seed, which came in 2011-12.

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 (2.2), good enough for 21st in the nation. That mark jumps to 2.4 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 5.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game in 19.9 minutes per outing while shooting 61.0 percent from the floor and has started 28-of-29 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.

As a freshman in 2017-18, 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.

Joey Hauser One Of BIG EAST's Top Freshmen

Sophomore Joey Hauser has been named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week a league-high five times (including four during league play) and as a result has positioned himself for consideration as the league's top newcomer.

He is ranked among the league leaders in rebounding (16th, 5.3 rpg.), free throw percentage (7th, .827), 3-point field goal percentage (2nd, .455) and defensive rebounds per contest (13th, 4.5 drpg.).

For the season, Hauser is contributing 9.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game while shooting 45.5 percent from behind the 3-point line and 82.7 percent from the charity stripe.