Marquette @ Wisconsin preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 10, 2016 ) Wisconsin 93, Marquette 84

Standout sophomore guard Markus Howard looks to keep his red-hot stretch going for a fourth straight game when Marquette visits rival Wisconsin on Saturday afternoon for their 124th meeting. Howard is averaging 32 points while draining 21-of-38 from 3-point range in the last three games to help the Golden Eagles put together four wins in the last five contests and score at least 90 in three of the four victories.

“Markus has had a great week,” Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski told reporters. “It’s not just his points per game. It’s the way he’s taken ownership of the team. … He’s made great decisions. He hasn’t forced. He’s let the offense come to him.” The Golden Eagles hope to take advantage of the struggling Badgers, who dropped a 59-55 decision at Temple on Wednesday for their sixth loss in the last eight contests after opening the season with a pair of victories. Wisconsin split two games to open the Big Ten season before shooting 41.1 percent against the Owls as junior forward Ethan Happ was the lone double-figure scorer with 23 on the night. “I don’t know if it’s immaturity or lack of experience,” Badgers sophomore guard D’Mitrik Trice told the Wisconsin State Journal, “but we just can’t seem to close games the way we want to in the last (few) minutes of each game.”

TV: Noon ET, Fox Sports 1

ABOUT MARQUETTE (6-3): Wojciechowski started freshman guard Greg Elliott for the second straight game Tuesday against Vermont to bring Andrew Rowsey off the bench and the senior guard responded with his first double-double of the season (13 points, 10 assists, one turnover). “I thought (Rowsey) really set the tone for us from a passing standpoint,” Wojciechowski told reporters. “. … The game, at times, will call for him to do those things. He did it (Tuesday) and then it becomes contagious.” Howard leads the team at 22.4 points overall, followed by Rowsey (21.6) and sophomore guard Sam Hauser (12.9).

ABOUT WISCONSIN (4-6): Happ scored just 16 points combined in the first two Big Ten games before draining 11-of-19 from the field against Temple and improving his season average to 16.2 per contest. Freshman guard Brad Davison is the only other player averaging double-figure points (10.0) with 20 makes in 45 attempts from 3-point range, but managed just eight points total in the past two outings. The Badgers, who are averaging just 66.4 points, need more from their depth players and Trice (9.4 points overall) has struggled while connecting on just six shots in 25 tries from the field over the last three contests.

TIP-INS

1. Happ has 23 career double-doubles and needs one to tie Rashard Griffith for sixth on the school’s all-time list.

2. Howard, Rowsey and Hauser have combined to make 90 of Marquette’s 102 from 3-point range in the first nine contests.

3. The Badgers have won three of the last four meetings, including a 93-84 triumph last season, and lead the all-time series 67-56.

PREDICTION: Wisconsin 72, Marquette 70