Who will win Marquette basketball vs. St. John’s in Big East showdown today? Our predictions, picks

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The Marquette men’s basketball team will finish the regular season against Big East regular-season champion St. John’s on Saturday at Fiserv Forum.

Before the game, the 20th-ranked Golden Eagles (22-8, 13-6 Big East) will honor the seniors that head coach Shaka Smart calls “The Guardians” of his culture.

The No. 6 Red Storm (26-4, 17-2) will offer a stiff test for MU. St. John’s won the first matchup in January at Madison Square Garden in New York.

More: ‘He’s one of the all-time great walk-ons’: How Cam Brown earned respect at Marquette

Here’s what to watch in the game:

Matchup to watch: Zuby Ejifor on the boards for St. John’s

Neither MU or St. John’s is a good shooting team, meaning there will be lots of rebounds. The Red Storm has a monster offensive rebounder in 6-foot-9 Zuby Ejifor, who grabs 14.2% of the available offensive rebounds when he is on the court. He had six offensive boards in the first matchup, so the Golden Eagles will need to put bodies on Ejifor.

Storyline to watch: Kam Jones, Kadary Richmond or R.J. Luis for Big East player of the year?

The Big East player of the year will be awarded on Wednesday before the conference tournament starts at Madison Square Garden. There are plenty of good candidates for the league’s coaches to pick, including Creighton 7-footer Ryan Kalkbrenner. By being the top team in the Big East, the Red Storm’s R.J. Luis and Kadary Richmond could get rewarded. But MU’s Kam Jones has a strong case, and he can make a final statement in his last home game in college.

Marquette basketball vs. St. John’s prediction

St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said his team will go hard against MU despite not having anything left to play for in the regular season and players nursing nagging injuries. Regardless of who plays, Pitino will have them keyed up. This is a tough matchup for MU, which will be playing with a lot of emotion on Senior Day. But the St. John’s presence inside is just too much to overcome.

Prediction: St. John’s…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/win-marquette-basketball-vs-st-131019430.html

Author : Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Publish date : 2025-03-08 13:10:00

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