MU vs. Villanova: Three things to watch

No Marquette fan needs a reminder about what went down the last time Villanova visited the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

But this video has probably been watched countless times by Golden Eagles supporters this week:

The Wildcats (19-1, 6-1 BIG EAST) are back in town as the top-ranked team to face MU (13-7, 4-4) on Sunday.

The game will be televised on Fox with Brian Anderson, Len Elmore and Shannon Spake and can be heard on AM-540 with Jim McIlvaine and Steve "The Homer" True.

Here are three things to watch:

1. The Markus and Andrew Show

The home and road scoring splits between MU leading scorers Markus Howard and Andrew Rowsey have been very interesting. Rowsey is doing most of his Big East scoring at home while Howard is getting buckets on the road. Digging deeper, the two players haven't scored 20 or more points in the same game since the victory over Wisconsin on Dec. 9.  They both topped the 20-point mark in four of MU's first seven games this season. MU would like two hot-shooting days vs. Villanova.

2. Elliott on Brunson

Villanova point guard Jalen Brunson is a national player of the year candidate and the fulcrum of the nation's top-ranked offense. MU's best defensive hope at keeping Brunson out of the paint is Greg Elliott. The long-limbed freshman drew praise from MU coach Steve Wojciechowski for his work on Brunson in the teams' first matchup. It will be interesting to see how Elliott is deployed.

3. Villanova's rotation

The Wildcats are down to a seven-man rotation with the unfortunate news that junior guard Phil Booth suffered a broken hand.  Donte DiVincenzo, who every media member is obligated to say is the "Michael Jordan of Delaware," will take Hart's starting spot. DiVincenzo was already playing 27.5 minutes per game. He scored 14 points in the victory over MU on Jan. 6. The shortened rotation also makes it unlikely that Jay Wright would utilize his press defense, so not to tire out his players.