St. John's @ Marquette preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 14, 2019 ) St. John's 54, Marquette 86

Marquette is enjoying its first winning streak in Big East play and has a great chance to extend the run to three games in a row when it hosts last-place St. John's on Tuesday. Behind a 42-point effort from star senior Markus Howard, the Golden Eagles got past Georgetown 84-80 on the road Saturday to get to the even mark in the Big East.

Senior guard Sacar Anim chipped in 13 points and junior guard Koby McEwen handed out a career-high nine assists in the victory. "I think the balance is getting there," Howard told reporters. "And I think the camaraderie overall is getting better and better after each game. I know we all have the same mindset at this point." The Red Storm followed up a win over DePaul with back-to-back narrow losses at Providence and to No. 10 Seton Hall in a Saturday afternoon matchup at Madison Square Garden. Senior guard Mustapha Heron scored 18 points Saturday as St. John's fell to 1-4 in league play in games decided by single digits.

TIME: 9 p.m. ET. TV: Fox Sports 1

ABOUT ST. JOHN'S (12-7, 1-5 Big East): The Red Storm shot 44 percent from the floor in Saturday's loss after being held to 40.3 percent or less in each of their previous six contests, and there is hope that the poor-shooting unit can build some offensive efficiency. "I was proud of our effort and I'm not into moral victories," coach Mike Anderson told reporters. "We lost a game at home and that's got to hurt, but ... against a very, very good opponent, Seton Hall, we gave ourselves a chance." Junior guard LJ Figueroa leads St. John's in scoring at 14.7 and he has 12 steals over the past two games to boost his Big East-leading average to 2.3.

ABOUT MARQUETTE (13-5, 3-3): Howard's nation-leading scoring average is at 28.2 and the sharpshooter is at 34.4 over his last five games. Anim contributes 12.1 points per contest while making 41.7 percent of his 3-pointers for a team that hits on 39.7 percent from long range - tied for seventh nationally entering Monday. McEwen chips in 9.6 points and a team-leading 3.2 assists, but is struggling from the field at 32.5 percent.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. While the Golden Eagles lead the Big East in 3-point shooting, the Red Storm rank last at 28.8 percent.

2. Marquette senior C Jayce Johnson has at least seven rebounds in four straight games.

3. St. John's took the first two meetings during the 2018-19 regular season before Howard scored 30 points to lead the Golden Eagles to an 86-54 win in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals.

PREDICTION: Marquette 79, St. John's 71