Fresh off scare, No. 7 Marquette bids to keep guard up vs. Xavier

No. 7 Marquette was less than a minute away from finishing on the wrong end of what would have been a stunning defeat on Tuesday night.

The Golden Eagles were hefty favorites against DePaul but trailed by four with 54 seconds left in regulation before rallying, forcing overtime and coming away with an 85-83 victory.

A win, yes, but one that has Marquette coach Shaka Smart asking more of his team as it prepares to host Xavier in a Big East game Saturday afternoon in Milwaukee.

Smart mainly is focused on getting the second unit going, as no reserve scored for the Golden Eagles (15-2, 6-0) on Tuesday. David Joplin came to Marquette's rescue, knocking down 7 of 13 3-point attempts en route to a career-high 30 points as the Golden Eagles won their sixth straight game.

"For us, hopefully we can gain some humility from this game (against DePaul)," Smart said. "Hopefully, the guys coming off the bench can gain humility from this game and we can be better in our next game. And they can play more in the next game. And then we won't have zero points off the bench."

Kam Jones supplied 18 points and 11 assists against the Blue Demons but went just 1-for-10 from beyond the arc. The unanimous preseason All-Big East first-team selection is trying to snap out of a cold spell in which he has made just 20 percent of his triples over the past six games.

"Kam is such a conscientious, awesome guy," Smart said. "I wouldn't trade him for anyone in the world. But sometimes he holds on so tight, he wants it so much, that it can affect his shooting."

The Musketeers' leading scorer this season, Ryan Conwell (17.1 points a game), also was going through a shooting slump until he canned 6 of 10 3-point attempts as part of a 34-point performance on Tuesday in a 69-63 victory over Villanova.

"Shoutout to my teammates and coaches. They put so much confidence in me to keep shooting," Conwell said. "I just trust my work and trust in the position the Lord has put me in."

Before defeating the Wildcats, Xavier (11-7, 3-4) beat DePaul, and Musketeers coach Sean Miller believes his team's modest winning streak is coming at the perfect time. Xavier is bracing for a tough four-game stretch that includes three contests on the road. The one home game will come against No. 14 UConn, the two-time defending national champion.

"The DePaul game gave us some confidence, (Tuesday) gave us some confidence. Now we're ready to go through a very difficult stretch," Miller said. "Let's go to a road game at Marquette and be the very best version of who we are in that game and see where that takes us."

The Musketeers and Golden Eagles collided on Dec. 21, with Marquette scraping out a 72-70 victory.

Despite his recent struggles, Jones is averaging a team-high 19.6 points per game for the Golden Eagles.

Conwell and Zach Freemantle (16.9) have headlined Xavier's offensive attack.

--Field Level Media