Penn State is just one win away from a trip back to New York and Madison Square Garden for the semifinals of the NIT.
But first, the Nittany Lions have to travel to Milwaukee for a matchup with the two seed in the region, Marquette.
The Golden Eagles picked up home wins over Harvard and Oregon to reach this point, while the Nittany Lions topped Temple in the Bryce Jordan Center last week and took down top-seeded Notre Dame on the road last Saturday.
Marquette is an interesting team out of the Big East that fell short of the tournament after losing to Villanova in the second round of the conference tournament in early March.
The Collegian spoke with Andrew Goldstein of the Marquette Wire ahead of Tuesday night’s matchup.
Let’s take a look at what he said about the Golden Eagles and look at some keys to the game for Penn State.
Stopping Marquette’s backcourt duo
The first thing that stands out about this Marquette team is its duo of dynamic and prolific scorers in the backcourt.
Both senior Andrew Rowsey and sophomore Markus Howard are both guards under 6 feet tall and average over 20 points per game.
Both are excellent 3-point shooters, as they each shoot over 40 percent from beyond the arc.
Opposing defenses struggle with trying to stop Howard and Rowsey as, it’s hard to find a game where both of them aren’t shooting well. Howard scored a career-high 52 points on an efficient 17-of-29 from the field during an overtime win over Providence back in early January.
This isn’t the only time Howard had a big game as he’s scored over 30 points six times this season.
The Golden Eagles’ offense is not balanced, however. Howard, Rowsey and Sam Hauser combine for over 67 percent on the team’s scoring.
“This offense isn’t really balanced, but is is potent. Especially when the 3s are falling,” Goldstein said.
The Big East as a whole isn’t known for its defense, allowing both players to put up big numbers this season.
But Penn State might have the pieces to limit the star backcourt.
Josh Reaves, who was named to the All-Big Ten Defensive team, will likely be matched up with Howard. Reaves has a good five inches on Howard and has the length to disrupt his shots off the dribble.
Shep Garner, who has been extremely active on the defensive end this season, will likely be matched up with Rowsey.
Those two, along with Jamari Wheeler will have to be active and keep Marquette off balance on the offensive end.
“It will be interesting to see how Marquette does against a good defensive backcourt,” Goldstein said.
The Golden Eagles live and die by the 3-point shot, and if the Nittany Lions prevent them from getting in rhythm early on, they will have a chance to jump out to an early lead.
“If the 3-pointers aren’t falling, they don’t really have much to fall back on,” Goldstein said.
Opportunity for Tony Carr to shine
After his struggles against Temple in the opening round in which he tied a career-low with 24 points, Tony Carr bounced back with 24 points against Notre Dame to help the Nittany Lions advance.
But the star sophomore will have an even bigger chance to put up big numbers against Marquette on Tuesday.
It’s no secret that the Golden Eagles are a good offensive team, but they have their fair share of woes on the defensive end.
Carr will likely have a size advantage on whoever is guarding him on the defensive end and can exploit his abilities in the post.
The Philadelphia native has struggled from 3-point range in the last two games, but he is still arguably the team’s best shooters and can get hot really quick.
“I would not be surprised if Tony Carr gets 35 points,” Goldstein said.
Even if the Golden Eagles decide to double Carr in the post, he’s shown that he’s more than capable of finding the open man. The movement without the ball by the rest of the Nittany Lions has been much better over the last few games, and could be a major key in the game if Marquette is dead set on taking Carr away.
Penn State going to back its press
With Marquette being a team that likes to play at a high tempo, Penn State could go back to its three-quarter court 1-3-1 press that it has implemented at various times this season.
Also, the Golden Eagles have struggled against the press this season as it doesn’t allow them to get out in transition and get open looks from 3-point range.
“Marquette has had all kinds of trouble with the press over the last two games,” Goldstein said. “Teams have been able to get back into the game by pressing and challenging every press.”
And although Marquette is a team that’s built off its talented guard play, it doesn’t have a clear-cut primary initiator on offense.
“Marquette isn’t really built for endurance and their ball handling is average at best,” Goldstein said.
Utilizing the defensive abilities of Reaves and Wheeler will be key for the Nittany Lions in this game. Penn State has the opportunity to put pressure on the Golden Eagles and force turnovers to build an early lead and force them to take bad shots.
