DePaul @ Marquette preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 12, 2019 ) Marquette 92, DePaul 73

Trying to win without Markus Howard is not something Marquette, which hosts DePaul on Saturday in a Big East game, wants to do often, but it worked for part of one game. With the nation's top scorer out with a face injury, the Golden Eagles turned to Koby McEwen and Sacar Anim to pull out a victory at Xavier and may be forced to do so against the Blue Demons.

Howard was all set to have another big game as the senior had 18 points with 12 minutes remaining before an elbow from Xavier's Zach Freemantle relegated him to the locker room. From there, the Golden Eagles rode McEwen, who scored 17 straight Marquette points after Howard left, and Anim, who had 10 points in the second overtime - including a pair of big 3-pointers, to prevail 84-82. "Sacar deserves a moment like this," coach Steve Wojciechowski told the media of the senior, who finished with a career-high 28 points, five rebounds and four steals. "I've not been around a player that has worked any harder than Sacar. When you see a guy rewarded for their effort. He was an absolute stud." Paul Reed and the Blue Demons played perhaps their worst game of the season in a 64-57 loss at No. 9 Seton Hall on Wednesday and need someone to step up to keep their season off life support.

TIME: 2 p.m. ET. TV: FSN

ABOUT DEPAUL (13-8, 1-7 Big East): The Blue Demons will need to clean up their turnovers and shoot better from 3-point territory to have any hope of winning this game and going on a run to save their season. Dave Leitao's teams turned it over 20 times against Seton Hall with eight of those coming from point guard Charlie Moore, who has had three such games this season. The 3-point shooting has been even more dreadful with an 11-of-56 mark over the last three games, including 8-of-25 from Jalen Coleman-Lands and 2-of-14 for Moore, who has seen his percentage dip to 31.5 with a slump during Big East play.

ABOUT MARQUETTE (15-6, 5-4): The 18 points were enough to send Howard over the 2,500-point mark, the 72nd player in NCAA history to do so, and he will soon pass his brother Jordan, who scored 2,524 points for Central Arkansas from 2015-18. The Arizona native already holds the record for most 3-pointers in Big East games (205) and is on pace to pass Boston College's Troy Bell (1,388) and Syracuse's Laurence Moten (1,405) for the most points. Howard also holds the distinction of most Big East Player of the Week honors with 12, one more than Notre Dame's Troy Murphy and Villanova's Kerry Kittles.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Howard had 10 straight games with 26 or more points, including six with 30 or more, since scoring 19 against Kansas State on Dec. 7.

2. The Golden Eagles have taken 14 of the last 17 matchups with DePaul to build a 78-47 lead in a series.

3. Anim has recorded three straight games with 20 or more points for the first time in his career while going 13-of-27 from 3-point land over the span.

PREDICTION: Marquette 86, DePaul 76