Marquette vs. St. John's 3-point preview

1. St. John's has yet to win a conference game at home and Marquette has yet to win away from the BMO Harris Center

It is two sides of the same coin for both sides, St. John's has struggled to close games at home against opponents and Marquette has struggled to win on the road.  So far in two home games for the Johnnies, they fell to Butler in a close game at the Carnesecca Arena and were blown out by Villanova in the Garden.  In three games on the road away from Milwaukee, Marquette has come close to walking off with a win, but fallen short each time.  Last time out for the Golden Eagles, they came close to upending Xavier at the Cintas Center.  Either St. John's will win at home or Marquette will prove they can win on the road, though their regular season resume has gotten slightly murkier due to the lack of road success.

2. We've yet to fully figure out either team completely

On paper both teams look relatively complete, but from what we've seen so far either team look incomplete on the court and at various stretches in their games.  Interestingly enough, both side appeared to have similar issues with play in the second half, as in their last games both struggled to maintain a balanced level of play for most of the second half of their games.  One thing is for certain, both have been relying more on their best players in D'Angelo Harrison for St. John's and Matt Carlino for Marquette as their play has made up for the often at times lack of secondary options on either side.  Another certainty is that both need this game to kick start success in the conference as it has been lacking for both programs at times.

3. Could this game be a turning point for either team?

Its been no secret so far this season, St. John's has struggled in conference play, with just one win in five games so far.  Marquette has only fared slightly better than the Red Storm, but have still been lacking tremendously. Both teams need this game to kick start their season once more.  A win for Marquette would bring them to .500 in conference play and give us a little bit more in figuring out where this team is heading.  Meanwhile a win for St. John's would mean hopefully the beginning a search for some balance going forward, but also maybe a little bit of gusto heading into their weekend matchup against Duke.  For now both sides will have to play a full 40 to see where they will be heading.