What would Marquette look like without Markus Howard? That’s hopefully a thought that didn’t cross a lot of Marquette fans’ minds through the last couple weeks. But they saw a glimpse of it on Tuesday night. Marquette did not have Howard for most of the game. He missed it after tightening up with lower back soreness in the early part of the first half versus Georgetown. This meant another player had to step up and Sam Hauser answered the call with 31 points. Marquette somehow dug this one out and found a way to win with Theo John and Sacar Anim having key blocks to seal the game in an improbable victory, 74-71.

Player of the Game: Sam Hauser – What a game from Sam. He hasn’t been that good in the Big East season struggling a little bit, but he broke through in a big way becoming the man last night with Howard out with injury. Hauser scored 31 points on 10-of-20 shooting with four made threes. 31 points is a career high for Sam. Marquette has two special players in Hauser and Howard. The fact Sam went up him right after the game was special. You get the feel that this is a special year for the Golden Eagles.

Silver Star: Brendan Bailey – With Howard down, players needed to set up to give Marquette a chance and Brendan Bailey did that. He ended up being part of the right combination of players for Steve Wojciechowski and saw himself playing a career-high 27 minutes. Bailey looked comfortable in crunch time minute, and he showed off a devastating move to the bucket. If Howard cannot go for Providence, expect to see Bailey get more clock again on Sunday.

Thing I liked: No one felt sorry for themselves – When a key player goes down, it can be a shock to the system. Take Duke for example on Monday night when Tre Jones went out with injury. Duke did not play their brand of basketball with Jones being out. Marquette did not have a that problem. They kept playing basketball and making winning plays. They found the right combination of players and rode them to the finish line.

Thing I didn’t like: Joseph Chartouny is… not good – Man, this is a tough one for Joe all things considered. He gets a chance to be the guy to lead the team with Howard out and yet he only plays eleven minutes. The offense had no movement with him and looked like a complete mess. Wojo did not like what he saw and went with a combination of both Sam and Joey Hauser playing point forward. It worked pretty well for Marquette.

Next up: Dwyane Wade Day at Marquette as the Golden Eagles honor him during the Providence game. It should be a fun affair. We’ll see if Howard is a go. Providence will be looking to try and salvage their season. After being predicted to be third in the Big East, they only won their first conference game on Monday. They’re gonna challenge Marquette, and it figures to be a weird one.

Charlie.