Marquette Welcomes UTEP To Fiserv Forum Tuesday Night

The Marquette University men's basketball team (6-2, 0-0 BIG EAST) continues its homestand Tuesday night at Fiserv Forum when it hosts UTEP (3-4, 0-0 C-USA) in non-conference action at 7:30 p.m. CT. FS1 will feature the national television broadcast, with Brian Anderson and Stephen Bardo (analyst) calling the action. Following Tuesday's outing, the Golden Eagles will welcome rival Wisconsin to Milwaukee on Dec. 8 before taking 10 days off to focus on finals.

MU Defending Home Court At High Level

The Golden Eagles spent a majority of the offseason focusing on the team's efforts at the defensive end of the court and that work has paid dividends early in 2018-19.

Through games of Dec. 2, Marquette ranks first in the BIG EAST in field goal percentage defense (.386 - 43rd in nation) and is second in blocked shots (4.9 bpg.). MU has held its opponent under 40.0 percent shooting from the field (only four times total in 2017-18) in five of the team's six victories.

Marquette's defensive success has been especially evident in the squad's five outings thus far at Fiserv Forum. Opponents have combined to shoot just 32.3 percent from the floor in the new arena and just 28.8 percent from behind the 3-point line.

Last season, Marquette allowed 78.5 points per game and through the first eight games in 2018-19, opponents are collecting just 66.1 points per contest.

Marquette Facing Miners For Second Time

Marquette and UTEP have met on the court on just one occasion previously, with MU claiming a 77-65 decision at home on Dec. 7, 1965 in the squad's second game of the campaign.

Three seasons after the lone matchup, UTEP (then Texas Western) would claim the 1966 national title and Marquette would follow with one of its own in 1977.

The Miners are currently a member of Conference USA, which Marquette called home from 1995-2005. The Golden Eagles claimed the league's regular season title in 2003 en route to a Final Four appearance.

Howard Changes Methods, But Same Results

Junior guard Markus Howard quickly established himself as one of the nation's top 3-point shooters as a freshman and is already in possession of 220 career treys (5th in MU history).

While he did knock down four triples in his 45-point effort Saturday afternoon in the win over Kansas State, it was his ability to get to the free throw line that made him so dangerous. Howard drew 13 foul calls and as a result finished 19-of-21 from the free throw line. His free throw total set the program's single-game record, surpassing the previous mark set by former teammate Andrew Rowsey in 2017-18.

He finished 11-of-17 from the floor overall and also chipped in two rebounds, an assist and one steal. Howard scored 26 points in the first half, the second time (Bethune Cookman) this season he has collected that total in just 20 minutes of action.

Howard's 45 points were the most ever by a Marquette player at home and also the highest total for a regulation game. The Chandler, Arizona, native netted a MU best 52 points at Providence in overtime last year.

For his efforts, Howard was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week on Dec. 3, his second honor of the season (Nov. 12) and fourth of his career. He was also tabbed the league's top freshman on three occasions in 2016-17.

Golden Eagles Taking Advantage Of Charity

Through games of Dec. 2, the Golden Eagles are ranked first in the BIG EAST and 22nd in the nation in free throw percentage.

Marquette's trio of Sam Hauser (1st, .905), Markus Howard (2nd, .898) and Joey Hauser (.889) own possession of the top three spot in the BIG EAST rankings and account for nearly 65 percent of the team's charity toss attempts.