On Tuesday, Marquette basketball will enter arguably their most challenging week of competition this season. Following a brutal 77-69 home loss to the UConn Huskies over the weekend, the Marquette Golden Eagles will travel to Madison Square Garden to face the red-hot St. John’s Red Storm in a ranked matchup. Marquette will then head to Omaha for a road tilt against the Crieghton Bluejays, winners of seven straight and nine of their previous ten games.
Despite a stellar 18-4 record, Marquette basketball will enter Tuesday’s road contest as a slight three-point underdog per most sportsbooks. However, according to one analytical website, Marquette will engage in a battle with St. John’s that will likely be closer to a one-point final.
ShotQuality Predicts Close Matchup for Big East Contest
According to ShotQuality:
We use computer vision and AI to deliver player location data, which drives basketball’s most predictive shot models. ShotQuality’s models consider over 90 variables, including shot type, shooter ability, and defender location.
Per ShotQuality, the model that uses data visualization and AI to grade each shot within a basketball game, believes that tonight’s matchup between the Marquette basketball program and the St. John’s Red Storm will be the closest game of the evening. ShotQuality’s NET rankings have Marquette as the ninth-best team in the country, while St. John’s sits at 43rd. While both teams earn high marks regarding offense, the Marquette defense has been analytically superior, ranking in the top 100 of the country regarding open three rate and fewest points per possession on post-up, midrange, and shots off the pick-and-roll.
Additionally, ShotQuality expects a regression for opposing offenses, with opponents continuing to have a hot hand against Marquette basketball despite the high level of defense presented by coach Shaka Smart’s team. Marquette remains one of the top teams in SQ, with last weekend’s loss against UConn grading as an analytical win.
Marquette Suffers Brutal Home Loss Over The Weekend
Last Saturday, while riding a three-game winning streak, Marquette basketball fell at home 77-69 to the UConn Huskies. It became just Marquette’s second loss at Fiserv Forum this season, although they forced 21 turnovers, shot three more free throws, and recovered seven more offensive rebounds.
Despite also attempting 21 more field goal attempts, Marquette shot just 12-of-22 from the line and 7-of-22 from deep. Superstar guards Kam Jones and Stevie Mitchell combined for just 1-of-8 shooting from three, while Jones went an uncharacteristic 3-of-8 from the charity stripe. Mitchell, a nearly 40% three-point shooter, and Jones, one of the top scorers in the country regarding pointers per game (19.0), played a large part in Marquette losing a game that ShotQuality graded as an 87-62 win. Also of note, UConn shot 12-of-19 from three.
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