#MUBB Faces No. 2/2 UConn For BIG EAST Tournament Title

The No. 10/10 Marquette University men's basketball team (25-8, 14-6 BIG EAST) plays for the BIG EAST Tournament Presented by Jeep championship on Saturday, March 16 at 5:30 p.m. CT when the squad faces No. 2/2 UConn (30-3, 18-2 BIG EAST) in Madison Square Garden. FOX features the national television broadcast, with Gus Johnson (play-by-play) and Jim Jackson (analyst) calling the action. Saturday's winner earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Short Series Has Plenty Of Highlights

Marquette has faced UConn on just 18 occasions all-time (Huskies lead 10-8), but the limited series has already provided a number of memories.

The all-time series dates back to the program's first year in the BIG EAST in 2005-06. MU hosted the Huskies at the Bradley Center on Jan. 3, 2006 in the team's first home game as a member of the BIG EAST Conference. Steve Novak finished with 41 points and 16 rebounds and Jerel McNeal chipped in 19 points and 12 boards in a 94-79 Marquette victory over No. 2 UConn to hand the Huskies their first loss of the season.

Other series highlights include a game-winning shot by Jimmy Butler with three seconds left in a 70-68 win on the road on Jan. 30, 2010 and an overtime win by Marquette at home on Jan. 1, 2013 when Junior Cadougan forced the extra session on at 3-pointer as time expired in regulation.

UConn swept the home-and-home series in 2023-24, most recently posting a 74-67 win at Fiserv Forum on March 6 on Senior Night.

Saturday night's game will be Marquette's fifth matchup against a top-10 opponent this season, it's most since facing five (two in regular season) in 1973-74.

Defense Carries MU To Title Game

While four players are averaging double figures in the two games at Madison Square Garden, the team's effort at the defensive end has led to the championship game appearance.

Villanova and Providence combined to shoot just 35.4 percent from the floor overall and 24.2 percent from behind the 3-point line. The Golden Eagles have averaged 7.5 steals and 34.0 deflections per game in the two victories.

The Golden Eagles have also done a great job protecting the ball without the services of All-American point guard Tyler Kolek, turning it over a total of just 13 times in the pair of outings.

Guard Kam Jones is pacing the team offensively with 20.5 points and 4.5 assists per game and forward David Joplin is chipping in 13.0 points and 7.0 rebonds per contest.

Marquette Returns To BIG EAST Final

After not advancing to the title game of the league tournament in the program's first 16 years in the BIG EAST Conference, the defending champion Golden Eagles will make their-second straight appearance Saturday night.

The Golden Eagles are 17-16 all-time in the BIG EAST Tournament and 29-31 in postseason events since joining a league for the first time in 1989-90. The Golden Eagles defeated St. John's, UConn and Xavier en route to the program's first-ever BIG EAST tourney championship (MU also claimed the regular-season title) in 2022-23.

The last time a team successfully defended its title came in 2019 when Villanova won its third-straight crown.

Prior to last season, Marquette's lone league tournament title came in 1996-97 when the team won four games in four days at the Conference USA Championship in St. Louis.