Marquette opened the Big East schedule with a hefty opponent, number sixth ranked Xavier. They’re a good team, a potential Final Four team and Marquette hung with them from start to finish. Golden Eagles did not finish though as Xavier won the game, 91-87, in an absolute track meet. Marquette showed they belong with the big boys in the Big East in a close, hard-fought effort. Moral victories aren’t worth shit in the Big East, but it’s a good start to the conference season even if they’re 0-1.

Jamal Cain breaks out in a big way
This is a thing to keep an eye on during the Big East season. Jamal Cain went off for 16 big points. He made a living on the corner three as Cain made 4-of-6 shots. Additionally, the Marquette freshman did a great job on Xavier’s high-powered offense. Cain played 29 minutes, and I feel like he’s going to get some significant minutes moving forward. We’ll see if he replaces Sacar Amin from the starting spot.

Andrew Rowsey finds his stroke while Markus Howard does not
Even though Andrew Rowsey finished with 31 points, he did really let his shot fly with shooting an absurd 17 three-point attempts yet proved to be catalyst of the team on Wednesday. It didn’t really feel like he shot that much honestly. That screams hero ball Rowsey, but he had to be the number one option with Howard’s struggles. Markus Howard never really got into a rhythm. He missed seven of eight threes. Also, he missed two huge layups down the stretch that really hurt the Golden Eagles’ chances.

Harry Froling is going to be a factor for this team down the stretch
Along with Cain, Harry Froling is going to start seeing much more time in the Big East play. He needs to get up to game speed, but you can tell it’s getting there for Froling. He had five offensive rebounds and showed off a little bit of passing ability as well. I like Matt Heldt, but the Australian sophomore can do so much more on the court.

Sam Hauser needs to get more looks
After a hot non-conference start, Sam Hauser only had six shot attempts against Xavier. That’s not enough. Steve Wojciechowski needs to find some more opportunities for him to get open. Hauser had a sneaky good game, despite not shooting much with 12 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. A near triple-double is a good way to start Big East play.

Next up
Marquette stays home to play Georgetown on Saturday afternoon. The Hoyas are not supposed to be a good team, so, don’t let their record fool you. They played a complete cake schedule for the non-conference season, but Georgetown had second half double-digit leads against Butler and Syracuse before losing.