Losers of six of its past seven games, Marquette will look to get back on track on Sunday at the Prudential Center in Newark against a Seton Hall bunch that won the first meeting between the teams in mid-December in Milwaukee.
Seton Hall has scored at least 72 points in five of their past six games. Each of the Pirates’ top four scorers (Sandro Mamukelashvili, Jared Rhoden, Myles Cale and Shavar Reynolds) is making at least 33.8 percent on 3-pointers and 76.5 percent on free throws.
They get to shoot against a Marquette group that ranks 286th in the country in 3-point shooting defense overall and is allowing Big East teams to shoot 41.2 percent from beyond the arc. Marquette is also forcing an opponent turnover on just 15 percent of possessions, which ranks 330th among the 347 Division I teams that have played this season.
The Golden Eagles counter with four of their top six scorers making at 36.8 percentage of their 3-point shots to aid a defense that ranks 237th in points allowed on a per-possession basis. Seton Hall allows a lot of 3s, rating 314th in defending those shots.
With Seton Hall ranking ninth in the country in free throws made per possession on offense, both offenses figure to be in for a big day against a pair of defenses that are leaving a lot to be desired. A reminder, games involving in-state teams are off the board at all New Jersey sportsbooks and mobile apps. But the game is action in neighboring states New York and Pennsylvania, and all across the nation, so we offer …
The play: Marquette-Seton Hall total, Over 143.5 points.