Big East Tournament final preview: Five factors to watch in Marquette-Xavier
The top two teams throughout a wild Big East regular-season race will square off for the conference tournament championship on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app.
Pregame coverage tips off at 5:30 p.m. ET on the network from Madison Square Garden, the site of the Big East Tournament for a 41st consecutive year.
There's some history in play when the sixth-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles square off with the 15th-ranked Xavier Musketeers for all the marbles on Saturday night.
Neither program has ever won the conference tournament, with Marquette making the final for the first time in program history since joining the conference in 2005 while Xavier has reached the title game for the second time, and first since 2015.
The meeting also guarantees that the Big East will have a first-time conference tournament champion for the first time since Bob Huggins and West Virginia accomplished the feat in 2010.
Perhaps the wildest nugget? It's the first time that the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds will face off in the conference tournament final since 2004, and just the 10th time overall in the history of the event.
'This is what it's all about'
The matchup itself should be a thriller, with the two teams providing two of the best games of the year in the Big East. Xavier earned an 80-76 win over Marquette on Jan. 15 while the Golden Eagles got their revenge in Milwaukee with a 69-68 victory on Feb. 15.
In terms of the NCAA Tournament implications, bracketologist Mike DeCourcy said Friday night following Marquette's semifinal win over UConn that the 27-6 Golden Eagles had moved up to the 2-line in his latest projection. At 25-8, Xavier sits on the 4-line.
Here are five factors to keep an eye on in the Big East Tournament championship game:
- Point. Guard. Play. Tyler Kolek has 258 assists to just 79 turnovers on the season. Souley Boum has totaled 13 games of at least 20 points this season. Both players have combined for 40 points in the two games against each other this season.
- In a battle of elite offense, who steps up with the defense? Xavier ranks third in KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency. Marquette ranks sixth. Both teams actually shined in their ability to string stops together on Friday night. Who finds that edge Saturday evening?
- Who's better Jones: Kam or Colby? The Marquette sophomore swings the Golden Eagles into a different gear when he's knocking down perimeter shots, while the Xavier junior has averaged 21 points per game over the last five contests.
- The O-Max Factor: Marquette's Olivier-Maxence Prosper is really intriguing, and the Golden Eagles are 16-1 when he scores more than 10 points this season. Not only that, but Prosper was brilliant with his defense on Jordan Hawkins on Friday night, holding the UConn star in check with just five points on 2-of-11 from the floor.
- Late-game execution: The Big East has upgraded its coaching group with strong hires in the last two offseason cycles. Shaka Smart and Sean Miller have shown what a winning coach can do to a program. In the last meeting between these teams, Xavier made a couple of costly blunders to give it a way. Will they get their revenge, or are the Golden Eagles truly a team of destiny this year?
Xavier's Souley Boum dominates, dropping 23 points in Big East tourney win over Creighton
At the end of the day, it's two top-15 teams that know each other so well, own two of the best offenses in America and have outstanding guard play.
It's a fitting matchup with unfinished business getting decided for Big East supremacy in NYC.
John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.
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