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(13) Marquette (23-6) at (3) Pittsburgh (26-3)
An injury that will sideline Dominic James for the rest of the season already slowed Marquette’s momentum heading toward the NCAA tournament, and consecutive losses to top-10 opponents hasn’t helped bring it back.
The No. 13 Golden Eagles will try to avoid a third loss in a row without James on Wednesday night at third-ranked Pittsburgh, which can keep its hopes of a Big East regular-season title alive with a 20th straight home win.
Marquette (23-6, 12-4) had a chance to become the top seed in the conference tournament when it began a brutal span of games against the three teams it trailed in the standings.
But as the Golden Eagles were engaging in a back-and-forth battle with No. 2 Connecticut on Feb. 25, James went down with a broken bone in his foot, ending the senior’s career.
“They’ve had a big injury, but they have played with this same team the entire season,” Panthers coach Jamie Dixon said. “So I don’t believe they’ll have a problem dealing with it. I think they’re doing the same things as when James was in there. They try to run and get the ball out to their wings.”
The Golden Eagles lost to UConn 93-82, then fell 62-58 at sixth-ranked Louisville on Sunday with junior Maurice Acker taking over at point guard. Still, they hung in against the Cardinals until the final minutes despite shooting a season-low 33.9 percent.
“We should have won, that’s how we feel,” said guard Wesley Matthews, who had a game-high 19 points. “We don’t feel any reason we should have lost this game.”
While Marquette is without James, Pittsburgh (26-3, 13-3) expects to have DeJuan Blair available. The nation’s leading offensive rebounder banged knees with a Seton Hall player early in Saturday’s 89-78 road win, and was diagnosed with a hyperextended knee.
He returned, though, to score nine points and grab 10 rebounds in 26 minutes, and is expected to start Wednesday.
The smaller Golden Eagles would certainly prefer if he’s not 100 percent. Pitt is second in the Big East and ninth in the nation in rebounding, grabbing five more boards a game than Marquette, which is 13th in the conference.
Both Pitt and Marquette still have a lot to play for heading toward the Big East tournament. The Panthers can still earn the top seed with wins over the Golden Eagles on Wednesday and top-ranked UConn on Saturday and a loss by Louisville. Marquette can wrap up a top-four seed - and the league’s last double bye into the quarterfinals - with a win at Pitt and a victory Saturday against No. 25 Syracuse.
The Panthers, who have won 19 in a row at home dating to Feb. 27, 2008, immediately lost after ascending to the top spot in the rankings, falling 81-73 at Providence on Feb. 24. They bounced back Saturday at Seton Hall, as Sam Young had a team-high 29 points and 10 rebounds.
“Losses bother us, that’s why our record is what it is,” Dixon said. “We did things better but the last game was one of those things, something got away from us.”
Marquette is hoping leading scorer Jerel McNeal bounces back from his worst Big East effort of the season. The senior guard is the conference’s third-leading scorer at 19.8 points per game, but he had 10 on 3-of-19 shooting on Sunday.
“He didn’t make many shots,” coach Buzz Williams said. “But we will still let him shoot them. He is the guy that we want to shoot the ball.”
Young averaged 20.0 points and McNeal 17.0 as the teams split two meetings last season - with the Panthers’ win coming in the Big East tournament semifinals. Blair was in foul trouble in both games, and managed a total of eight points and eight boards in 32 minutes.
An injury that will sideline Dominic James for the rest of the season already slowed Marquette’s momentum heading toward the NCAA tournament, and consecutive losses to top-10 opponents hasn’t helped bring it back.
The No. 13 Golden Eagles will try to avoid a third loss in a row without James on Wednesday night at third-ranked Pittsburgh, which can keep its hopes of a Big East regular-season title alive with a 20th straight home win.
Marquette (23-6, 12-4) had a chance to become the top seed in the conference tournament when it began a brutal span of games against the three teams it trailed in the standings.
But as the Golden Eagles were engaging in a back-and-forth battle with No. 2 Connecticut on Feb. 25, James went down with a broken bone in his foot, ending the senior’s career.
“They’ve had a big injury, but they have played with this same team the entire season,” Panthers coach Jamie Dixon said. “So I don’t believe they’ll have a problem dealing with it. I think they’re doing the same things as when James was in there. They try to run and get the ball out to their wings.”
The Golden Eagles lost to UConn 93-82, then fell 62-58 at sixth-ranked Louisville on Sunday with junior Maurice Acker taking over at point guard. Still, they hung in against the Cardinals until the final minutes despite shooting a season-low 33.9 percent.
“We should have won, that’s how we feel,” said guard Wesley Matthews, who had a game-high 19 points. “We don’t feel any reason we should have lost this game.”
While Marquette is without James, Pittsburgh (26-3, 13-3) expects to have DeJuan Blair available. The nation’s leading offensive rebounder banged knees with a Seton Hall player early in Saturday’s 89-78 road win, and was diagnosed with a hyperextended knee.
He returned, though, to score nine points and grab 10 rebounds in 26 minutes, and is expected to start Wednesday.
The smaller Golden Eagles would certainly prefer if he’s not 100 percent. Pitt is second in the Big East and ninth in the nation in rebounding, grabbing five more boards a game than Marquette, which is 13th in the conference.
Both Pitt and Marquette still have a lot to play for heading toward the Big East tournament. The Panthers can still earn the top seed with wins over the Golden Eagles on Wednesday and top-ranked UConn on Saturday and a loss by Louisville. Marquette can wrap up a top-four seed - and the league’s last double bye into the quarterfinals - with a win at Pitt and a victory Saturday against No. 25 Syracuse.
The Panthers, who have won 19 in a row at home dating to Feb. 27, 2008, immediately lost after ascending to the top spot in the rankings, falling 81-73 at Providence on Feb. 24. They bounced back Saturday at Seton Hall, as Sam Young had a team-high 29 points and 10 rebounds.
“Losses bother us, that’s why our record is what it is,” Dixon said. “We did things better but the last game was one of those things, something got away from us.”
Marquette is hoping leading scorer Jerel McNeal bounces back from his worst Big East effort of the season. The senior guard is the conference’s third-leading scorer at 19.8 points per game, but he had 10 on 3-of-19 shooting on Sunday.
“He didn’t make many shots,” coach Buzz Williams said. “But we will still let him shoot them. He is the guy that we want to shoot the ball.”
Young averaged 20.0 points and McNeal 17.0 as the teams split two meetings last season - with the Panthers’ win coming in the Big East tournament semifinals. Blair was in foul trouble in both games, and managed a total of eight points and eight boards in 32 minutes.
