No. 19 #MUBB Hosts No. 15 Creighton Tuesday Night

The No. 19/19 Marquette University men's basketball team (17-7, 7-5 BIG EAST) returns home to host No. 15/15 Creighton (20-6, 9-4 BIG EAST) Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. CT inside the friendly confines of Fiserv Forum. FS1 will feature the national television broadcast, with Brandon Gaudin (play-by-play) and Stephen Bardo (analyst) calling the action. Tuesday's outing wraps up a run of three-straight nationally ranked opponents for the Golden Eagles and also begins a run of 3-of-4 home games.

All-Time Series Dates Back To 1922-23

Marquette's all-time series against Creighton spans nearly the entirety of the program's 103-year history.

Prior to 2013-14 when the Bluejays joined the BIG EAST, the most recent meeting between the two programs came in the 1998 National Invitation Tournament. MU posted an 80-68 victory in the opening round at the BMO Harris Bradley Center en route to an appearance in the event's quarterfinals.

Creighton won last season in its first trip to Fiserv Forum and has now won back-to-back games in the series after the Golden Eagles had claimed six-straight decisions.

Tuesday's Matchup Features Top Offenses

Tuesday's matchup at Fiserv Forum will feature the top-two scoring offenses in the conference, both overall and in league-only matchups.

The Bluejays are scoring a conference-best 78.3 points per contest (23rd in nation) in 2019-20 and the Golden Eagles are right behind at 77.9 points per outing (28th in nation). The scoring has dropped off just slightly in BIG EAST outings, with Creighton again on top of the 10-team league in scoring offense (77.6 ppg.) and Marquette less than a point behind (77.0 ppg.).

With scoring on both sides covered, the winner of Tuesday's game will most likely be determined at the defensive end, where again, both teams are separated by the slimmest of margins in scoring defense (69.7-69.8)

Howard Sets New BIG EAST Scoring Standard

Senior Markus Howard put his name at the top of another career category on Feb. 9 at Villanova, becoming the all-time leading scorer in league games in the 40-year history of the BIG EAST Conference.

Howard's 3-pointer as time expired allowed him to pass Lawrence Moten (Syracuse, 1991-95), who finished his standout career with 1,405 points. Howard, who entered the game in third place, also passed Troy Bell (Boston College, 1999-2003) in the first half at Villanova.

One of just five players in BIG EAST history to score over 1,000 league points in less than three seasons, Howard is also in possession of 218 career 3-pointers in BIG EAST play, breaking the previous mark of 200 set by Seton Hall's Jeremy Hazell.

Howard was named BIG EAST Player of the Week for the 12th time in his career on Jan. 20, setting a new league record for weekly career recognitions.

His 12th accolade, surpassed the previous record of 11 career honors by both Troy Murphy (Notre Dame) and Kerry Kittles (Villanova).

Cain Proves He Is Able At Villanova

Junior forward Jamal Cain made a big impact off the bench in last week's game at Villanova, collecting one of his best outings in league play with the program.

The Pontiac, Michigan, native finished with 13 points and eight rebounds in nearly 23 minutes of action and shot 4-of-8 from the floor overall and 3-of-4 from behind the 3-point line.

Cain's point total marked just the third time he has reached double figures in 43 career league outings and was his highest since scoring 16 points versus Xavier in his first-ever conference matchup on Dec. 27, 2017.

Cain has now reached double figures in points on three occasions in 2019-20, including a career-best 17 points in the win at Kansas State on Dec. 7.

Marquette University Athletics

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