The World’s Most Famous Arena will play host to a Thursday Big East Tournament battle between Marquette Golden Eagles and the Creighton Bluejays. The fifth-seeded Golden Eagles (19-11) finished three games above .500 in conference play and are scoring 74.8 ppg for first-year head coach Shaka Smart. On Saturday, Marquette led by seven points at halftime and never trailed during the second half of an 85-77 home victory versus St. John’s.
Marquette F Justin Lewis poured in a game-high 28 points on 9-for-20 shooting and pulled down seven boards. Darryl Morsell contributed 20 points and six rebounds for the Golden Eagles.
The Creighton Bluejays finished 12-7 in conference play and managed to stay relevant despite losing several key contributors from last season. On Saturday, Creighton was unable to make the plays down the stretch of a 65-60 home loss versus Seton Hall. The Bluejays (20-10) shot just 39 percent from the field and turned the ball over 14 times in defeat.
Ryan Hawkins and Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 17 points apiece to lead Creighton on a combined 11-for-25 shooting. Arthur Kaluma added nine points and five rebounds for the Bluejays.
