After a long Christmas break — and a roster shake-up — Marquette hosts Seton Hall in a Big East Conference tilt Tuesday night in Milwaukee.
The Golden Eagles (5-8, 0-2 Big East) have lost four in a row and made news over the weekend with the announcement that guard Zaide Lowery was no longer on the team after starting nine games earlier this season and averaging 8.1 points.
Lowery had been replaced in the lineup by freshman Adrien Stevens and did not travel to the team’s last game against Creighton Dec. 20.
After losing its three leading scorers in the offseason and not pursuing anyone in the transfer portal, it was clear this was a transition season for Marquette. The Golden Eagles have struggled defensively, ranking 10th in the 11-team Big East in points allowed at 77.3 per game.
“We have to find a way, regardless of the lineup we have out there, to be sounder on defense,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said after the loss to Creighton. “You can say there’s a couple of freshmen out there, or this or that, but it takes what it takes.”
Freshman Nigel James Jr. has started the last 10 games for Marquette and had a career-high 23 points against Creighton, including 3-for-6 shooting from 3-point range.
“He is just more aggressive than everyone else right now, he has a moxie and a poise to him,” Smart said of James. “He’s also more confident than everyone else right now. I do think in time his confidence will be contagious.”
The Pirates (11-2, 1-1) enter Tuesday night confident after a great start to the season, but struggled in an eight-point loss to Big East contender Villanova on Dec. 23, when they shot just 33.3%.
AJ Staton-McCray leads Seton Hall with 13.1 points per game, and the Pirates’ defense — as usual — has been suffocating. They rank eighth in the nation in allowing 62.2 ppg.
Something to keep an eye on is the status of Pirates freshman center Najai Hines, who has missed the last two games with an undisclosed ailment. Hines has averaged 7.4 points plus an impressive 2.5 blocks this season.
“It impacts us a lot not having him,” Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway said after the loss to Villanova. “(He’s) a low-post presence, a defender, somebody to protect the basket, somebody that we could throw the ball to, a guy to get offensive rebounds. I hope we have him back soon, because we need him.”
