Marquette @ Creighton preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 3, 2019 ) Creighton 66, Marquette 60

Markus Howard has Marquette pointed in the right direction as the Golden Eagles begin Big East play with a visit to Creighton on Wednesday. The senior guard led Marquette to its fifth straight win to close out 2019 by hitting 5-of-7 from 3-point range in a 30-point performance during Saturday's 106-54 rout of Central Arkansas.

Seven others scored at least eight points and the Golden Eagles had 23 assists while shooting 54.7 percent from the floor in a smooth offensive effort that won't come as easily over the next two-plus months. "You always want to be up 53 points, you'd take that every day," coach Steve Wojciechowski told reporters. "But the reality is you need to build good habits and maintain habits to prepare yourself for what's coming. And what's coming is the gauntlet of the Big East, the top conference in the country." The Bluejays appear ready for conference action as well after stringing together seven straight wins to close non-conference play. They had four victories against power conference teams during the run before picking up a 91-54 triumph over NAIA squad Midland on Saturday.

TIME: 9 p.m. ET. TV: CBS Sports Network

ABOUT MARQUETTE (10-2): Howard is averaging 26.8 points in four games since returning from concussion protocol and he entered the last day of 2019 leading the country at 26.3 per contest. Fellow senior guard Sacar Anim is second on the team in scoring at 12.8 while making 45.9 percent of his 3-pointers. Junior guard Koby McEwen, who averages 10.2 points and a team-high 3.5 assists, sat out Saturday's game with a sprained thumb and is day-to-day.

ABOUT CREIGHTON (11-2): Sophomore guard Marcus Zegarowski was right on his team-leading scoring mark of 18.5 points by finishing with 19 in the win over Midland. Junior guard Ty-Shon Alexander also scored 19 to bounce back from a season-low five-point performance in a win at Arizona State, and he averages 16.5 points while making 34-of-78 from 3-point range. Junior guard Denzel Mahoney, a transfer who averaged 19.3 points for Southeast Missouri State two seasons ago, is averaging 12.7 points since making his debut for the Bluejays three games ago.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Howard scored a career-high 53 points - an all-time high for a Creighton opponent - while making 10-of-14 from 3-point range in the first meeting last season, and had 33 of his team's 60 points in the second one.

2. Bluejays junior F Damien Jefferson notched his first career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds against Midland.

3. Golden Eagles sophomore F Brendan Bailey had a career-high 12 rebounds against Central Arkansas after recording a career-best five blocked shots in the previous game against North Dakota State.

PREDICTION: Creighton 90, Marquette 88