Marquette Golden Eagles will face Xavier Musketeers in the Big East Tournament and between the two, it appears the latter is the one that has the momentum, at least according to head coach Sean Miller.
The two teams finish their regular season in totally opposite directions.
The Musketeers recorded seven straight wins after falling to Villanova Wildcats on February 9. They have beaten all the teams below them in the standings to push a fifth place finish before the Big East Tournament.
As for the Golden Eagles, they had a rocky finish to the regular season starting in February. They started the second month of the year with three straight losses to teams that are now all above them in the conference standings. They recovered with a victory against the Seton Hall Pirates but dropped again against the Butler Bulldogs.
They recorded wins by big margin against the Providence Friars and the Georgetown Hoyas but then they tripped again for two straight against top-tier teams UConn Huskies and St. John’s Red Storm.
The pressure is on Marquette as they are also the higher seed.
Musketeers’ spirit ahead of game against Marquette Golden Eagles
Marquette won the two games they met Xavier this season but in a tournament, that might hardly matter.
Sean Miller has every right to feel optimistic right now with his team’s seven straight win. He thinks they are playing their best basketball at the moment.
“I think we’re playing our best basketball of the season right now,” he said.
“I feel like we’re an NCAA Tournament team.”
As for Shaka Smart, he and his coaching staff goes back to the drawing board after that deflating loss to St. John.
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