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Markus Howard tied a Big East record en route to a Marquette Golden Eagles win on Wednesday.
Howard scored 52 points in the Golden Eagles’ 95-90 OT victory over the Providence Friars. The outburst from the star sophomore matched a performance from former Friar MarShon Brooks, who dropped 52 all the way back on February 23, 2011 against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Markus’ dynamo performance included an incredible outing from 3-point land. He was 11-19 from beyond the arc. The 11 3-pointers tied a career-high he set against Eastern Illinois earlier this season, which is rather ridiculous. It’s one thing to do it once. To do it twice? In the same season? Sheesh.
The Golden Eagles used a 50.0/50.0/87.5 line en route to their win. MU shot 13-26 from the 3-point line, as Sam Hauser and Andrew Rowsey chipped in the other threes. They were 34-for-68 from the field, and 14-of-16 from the free throw line. That they did this on the road makes the showing all the more terrific.
It’s a tough pill for the Providence Friars to swallow. There was nothing in particular that they could do to stop Howard or any of the other adept shooters that MU had. And they didn’t even play particularly poorly. Kyron Cartwright scored 29 points in the loss, while Isaiah Jackson put up 19 himself. Alpha Diallo had 16, and Kalif Young had 10, so Providence had four double figures scorers. The problem, perhaps, was in 3-point shooting, though. They were just 2-for-12 from deep. And when you’re facing a team that’s hitting 50 percent of your 3-pointers, it’s going to eventually catch up to you.
There were nine lead changes and 11 times the game was tied, so this was a back-and-forth affair to the fullest. The teams combined for 27 points in the OT period, adding to an already incredible showcase. Marquette scored 1.159 points per possession and Providence put up 1.125.
This effort from MU definitely helps improve their confidence. They will take their 2-1 record in Big East play to Philadelphia, as they will next face the Villanova Wildcats on Saturday night. Providence, on the other hand, has to deal with the other frontrunner in the bBIg East Conference. That being the Xavier Musketeers, who march to Friartown on Saturday afternoon.