As has been the case all season long, Trae Young put up another great stat line on Wednesday night, coming up a rebound shy of a triple-double as Oklahoma handled arch-rival Oklahoma State. But this wasn’t Young’s night.
Instead, as individual performances go, this night belonged to Markus Howard, who is six months younger than Young is. His team was happy, too.
Howard scored 52 points, going 17-29 from the field including 11-19 from long range, to lift Marquette to a 95-90 overtime win at Providence. The mark ties the Big East record for points in a single game, ironically held previously by a Providence Friar, Marshon Brooks back in 2011. And he did a lot of damage when the Golden Eagles really needed it.
Providence led 75-69 with just over two minutes left. Howard scored four baskets without a miss, including a conventional three-point play to cap the run, and then Marquette had a chance before the end of regulation after a Providence turnover. Howard then started overtime with a three-pointer, then scored seven more unanswered after backcourt mate Andrew Rowsey hit a three-pointer.
In the final 7:11 of the game, Howard scored 20 of his 52 points, personally outscoring Providence 20-15 in that span. The total set a school record in addition to tying the Big East mark. (Interestingly, the Associated Press story on the game closes by saying that the 95 points scored by Marquette is the most ever allowed by Providence, but that is not correct. I remember covering a few games in which they allowed more than that over the last decade or so.)
It was a tough loss for Providence, who falls to 1-2 in Big East play, as they shot just under 51 percent on the night and had a 39-28 rebounding edge. A 2-12 night from behind the arc didn’t help, but allowing the Golden Eagles to go 13-26 from long range was a big one, with Howard doing most of the damage.
Marquette has not had a lot of buzz to date as the Big East has had a good run, but this win helps them nicely. It is their first top 50 win of the season, although they have three other top 100 wins and a win over Wisconsin that may become a top 100 win. Their worst loss is against Georgia, hardly a bad loss, so the Golden Eagles are quietly putting together a nice NCAA Tournament profile in the early going.
Leading the way in that regard is Markus Howard, the little sophomore guard who had the big game on Wednesday night.
Side Dishes
A few ACC games of note: Virginia thumped arch-rival Virginia Tech 78-52 in Blacksburg, maybe the biggest surprise of the night, while Florida State barely held off North Carolina 81-80 despite missing several free throws late, Clemson edged Boston College 74-70 and Georgia Tech beat Miami 64-54 in Atlanta behind 30 points from Josh Okogie. Also, in their first game without Bonzie Colson, Notre Dame blew out NC State 88-58 as Mike Brey surpassed Digger Phelps as the school’s all-time leader in coaching wins.
LSU continues to look like an over-achiever, but that didn’t translate into a win on the night as Kentucky held on for a 74-71 win in Baton Rouge.
Tulsa continued its nice start to American Athletic Conference play as they went to 3-0 with a 90-88 win over UConn in overtime.
In the Missouri Valley Conference, Drake continues to be the early surprise, going to 3-0 with an 87-62 blowout of Illinois State behind 28 points from Reed Timmer.
Tonight’s Menu
The slate is a little bit lighter this time around, but the quality is still there, with more action out west.
- A good matchup in the American Athletic Conference is on tap as Houston visits Wichita State (7 p.m.) Later, Temple hosts Cincinnati (9 p.m.)
- Ohio State tries to continue its good Big Ten start as they take their 2-0 mark into Iowa (7 p.m.)
- Staying in the Big Ten, Maryland takes its 2-1 mark into Michigan State for a tough test (8 p.m.)
- In the Ohio Valley Conference, Tennessee Tech tries to keep their good start going as they take their 2-0 mark into Belmont (8 p.m.)
- In the Pac-12, Arizona State tries to bounce back from their first loss of the season at Colorado (8:30 p.m.), while Arizona travels to Utah (9 p.m.), Stanford hosts UCLA (10 p.m.) and Cal hosts USC (10:30 p.m.)
- A good matchup is on tap in the Missouri Valley as Northern Iowa travels to Missouri State (9 p.m.)
- A pair of 2-0 teams in the Big Sky battle as Montana State hosts Northern Colorado (9 p.m.)
- The West Coast Conference has the last games of the night, with Gonzaga at Pepperdine and BYU at San Francisco (11 p.m.)
