No. 1 UConn vs. No. 4 Marquette: Five keys to watch for Saturday on FOX

College Basketball

Published Feb. 16, 2024 11:16 a.m. ET

College Basketball Broadcaster and Reporter

One of college basketball’s biggest games of the season arrives Saturday when No. 1 UConn hosts No. 4 Marquette (3 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app).

This highly anticipated showdown has everything you could ask for — winning streaks, national title contenders, All-American talents and two charismatic head coaches in what promises to be an exuberant atmosphere at the XL Center.

The reigning national champion Huskies have won 13 consecutive games. The defending Big East champion Golden Eagles have won eight straight. But it was Marquette that took two out of three from UConn this past season, including a dramatic 70-68 victory in the teams’ last meeting in the Big East Tournament semifinals. The Golden Eagles went on to win the conference tournament for the first time in program history.

After that victory over the Huskies, there was drama.

Dan Hurley had said the night previous to the semifinals that Madison Square Garden was UConn’s house.

After Marquette came away with the win 24 hours later, Golden Eagles star Kam Jones fired back at the Huskies: “Well, it was a short stay in their [UConn’s] second home. We wish them a safe trip back to their first home.”

So, yes, there’s some bad blood between these two Big East powerhouses, but that’s a good thing entering Saturday — it only adds to the juice of this showdown.

You have a head coach in Hurley, who has risen into as big of a coaching face as any in the sport. He owns a record of 54-10 over the past two seasons and possesses an intensity and charisma on the sidelines that is … unique.

There could be a Hurley camera that is worth the price of admission just stationed to capture him in every game he’s involved in.

On the other hand, you have a coach who has completely transformed Marquette into one of the heavyweights in the country once again with a chip-on-the-shoulder mentality that the Golden Eagles have backed up this season after a Maui Invitational win over Kansas, a road win at Illinois and a 19-5 overall record.

Head coach Shaka Smart has done an outstanding job in not even three full years in Milwaukee and has found a happy medium at Marquette that just feels like the right high-major fit after his previous stops at Texas and VCU. Smart has reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament just once, when he took the Rams on a magical Final Four run in 2011. Can he break through this time around? He’s certainly got all the pieces to do it, and a win Saturday would further put the country on notice that the Golden Eagles are in fact a legitimate national championship threat.

But the task in front of them Saturday is a daunting one. Marquette is 0-3 against UConn on the road since the Huskies returned to the Big East, with the average margin of defeat coming by 14 points. But in many ways, the Golden Eagles play a style that is anti-UConn, and it originates at the center position, which I’ll get to in my keys.

First, some history on this showdown. Saturday’s tilt will mark the third top-five matchup in the Big East since the league was reconfigured in 2013. The two other showdowns were No. 3 Villanova at No. 4 Xavier (Nova, 95-79) in February 2018 and No. 1 Villanova at No. 5 Xavier (Xavier, 90-83) in February 2016, per Elias Sports Bureau.

Now, for the five keys to watch for in this game:

1. Donovan Clingan vs. Oso Ighodaro will be fascinating

Clingan is one of the best rim protectors in the country. Even though he has missed five games, the UConn center still ranks in the top 20 nationally in blocks with 2.3 rejections per game. If he’s not denying a shot, he’s making you think twice, and he’s hitting his stride offensively after going off for 18 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, and three blocks last week in a win over Butler. He totally changes the way UConn defends, and the Huskies have been one of the nation’s best defensive teams since he returned from his foot injury.

But on Saturday, Clingan meets a big man who plays quite the opposite way from his skillset. Marquette creates matchup nightmares with both Ighodaro setting screens and taking centers off the dribble with his mobility and versatility. Ighodaro is also an incredible passer, averaging close to three assists per game with 14.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest. I’m so intrigued to see what Marquette does in trying to give Clingan issues defending ball screens.

2. Two of the best three point guards in America will be squaring off

Tyler Kolek is playing as well as anybody in the country right now and is my pick for top point guard honors, but Tristen Newton has had a sensational season with 15.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game for the top-ranked Huskies.

Just how great has Kolek been recently? Over the past four games, the senior is averaging 25.8 points, 8.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds per contest. He’s scored at least 27 points in three of the past four games, totaling a double-digit number of assists four times during the team’s eight-game winning streak. He has also totaled 75 assists to just 21 turnovers during the surge. Newton’s a big-game player, having gone for 31 points against Kansas earlier this year and racking up 20-plus points in four contests, not to mention his 19-10-4 line in the national championship game last season.

Purdue’s Braden Smith would be in my top point guard trio this season — and I’ll listen to arguments if he’s No. 2 over Newton — but the UConn and Marquette floor generals are in my top three.

3. Tempo!

This one is quite simple. Connecticut is an absolute handful offensively, ranking third in KenPom, but the Huskies don’t do it by overwhelming people with how they run the floor. In fact, UConn is 324th out of 362 teams in the country in adjusted tempo. On the flip side, Marquette isn’t lightning quick in that category, but the Golden Eagles are 80th. UConn would prefer to lull Marquette to sleep defensively and use all of its off-ball movement to create problems. It’s imperative that Kolek, Jones and David Joplin find tempo, space and shot-making opportunities in this game. We’ll see how that plays out.

4. Which sharpshooter reigns supreme?

I’m talking about Cam Spencer and Jones. For my money, Spencer is deserving of being in the Big East Player of the Year race, averaging 15.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists on the year while shooting a whopping 45% from 3-point range! He’s 68-of-152 from downtown, sitting at fourth in the country in 3-point percentage.

Jones is not quite as efficient, but when he gets hot, it changes the game. The Marquette junior is at over 37% from 3-point territory while averaging over 14.0 points. He cannot afford to have a quiet day, something that’s happened a couple of times this year. The Golden Eagles need him in the right mental space early on and need Jones to hit his shots like he did on Feb. 3 when he went off for a career-high 31 points against Georgetown. He doesn’t need to score that many, but an engaged Jones and locked in Kolek is where this upset bid would start for Marquette.

5. Alex Karaban vs. David Joplin

To me, Karaban gets nowhere near the credit he deserves for his role on this UConn team. He enters Saturday having scored a combined 46 points in his past two games, and he’s shooting 42% from 3 on the year. His counterpoint in this game is the Marquette X-factor for me. When the 6-foot-8 junior forward, who has taken over as the stretch-4 in Smart’s system for Dallas Mavericks rookie and first round draft pick Olivier-Maxence Prosper, is scoring for Marquette, winning tends to happen. The Golden Eagles are 12-1 on the year when Joplin scores in double-figures.

Can Marquette end UConn’s 17-game winning streak in home games? They’re certainly as big of a remaining threat to do that as any, or else I highly believe the Huskies will finish this year undefeated in the state of Connecticut.

The 15,684 on hand will be boisterous, creating one of the best scenes the sport has seen all year. With Big East Tournament championship Saturday exactly four weeks from this game, could we be seeing a preview of the title showdown and round one of three (or even four) between these two teams?

Buckle up. It’s going to be fun.

John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter at @John_Fanta.

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