Pregame notes: Marquette vs. Xavier
Marquette (15-10, 6-7 Big East) returns to action following a week-long layoff at 7 p.m. Saturday as it hosts Xavier (18-8, 8-5) at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. The meeting is the first between the two teams this season and comes as the Golden Eagles celebrate National Marquette Day.
The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network with Carter Blackburn (play-by-play) and Doug Gottlieb (analyst) calling the action. On radio, the game will air on ESPN 540, the flagship of the MU radio network, where Steve "The Homer" True and Jim McIlvaine will have the call.
I'll be tweeting some of my observations throughout the game, so check out our season-long live Twitter stream here and feel free to follow me on Twitter at @Matt_Velazquez. You can also follow the live box scores on our college basketball scoreboard page.
Below are the probable starting lineups and a few notes that will help prepare you for the game.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
Markus Howard, 5-foot-11, G, fr.
Duane Wilson, 6-foot-2, G, jr.
Jajuan Johnson, 6-foot-5, G, sr.
Sam Hauser, 6-foot-6, G, fr.
Luke Fischer, 6-foot-11, C, sr.
Quentin Goodin, 6-foot-4, G, fr.
J.P. Macura, 6-foot-5, G, sr.
Malcolm Bernard, 6-foot-6, G, sr.
Kaiser Gates, 6-foot-8, F, soph.
Tyrique Jones, 6-foot-9, F, fr.
Pregame reads: It's been more than three weeks since Marquette's victory over Villanova on Jan. 24 — the Golden Eagles' last win on their home court. Since then, Marquette has gone 1-4 and hasn't looked like the team it was to that point in the season. With their NCAA Tournament hopes hinging on every game, the Golden Eagles will need to return to form as quickly as possible.
Saturday is National Marquette Day, an annual celebration that dates back to the 1960s and has maintained its current format since 1992. It is also the day that Marquette will celebrate its 100 years of basketball history. Check out the Journal Sentinel's coverage of Marquette's basketball centennial here.
Visitor: Race Thompson, a 6-foot-8 forward from Minneapolis, made an unofficial visit to Marquette on Saturday. The trip to Milwaukee wasn't Thompson's first, as he was also in the building for Marquette Madness at the Al McGuire Center in October. Class of 2017 recruit Greg Elliott, who was expected to visit in February, is now anticipated to make an official visit on March 4 for Marquette's game against Creighton.
Matt Velazquez can be reached at mvelazquez@journalsentinel.com and twitter.com/Matt_Velazquez.