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The first two matchups between the Marquette Golden Eagles and Creighton Blue Jays have been classics with the first matchup being a double overtime win foe Creighton and the Blue Jays pulling out the second game by one point. Marquette will look for revenge at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Thursday in the second round of the Big East Tournament.
Marquette Golden Eagles (-2.5, 142.5) vs Creighton Blue Jays
Unlike the first two matchups, Creighton will be without starting point guard and leader in assists Ryan Nembhard, who is averaging 11.3 points, 4.3 assists, and a team-high 1.3 steals per game.
In Nembhard’s absence, Creighton has played three games averaged 58.3 points per game, failing to exceed 64 points in any of those games.
The Blue Jays are tasked with protecting the ball against a Marquette defense the generated 8.3 steals per game, which ranked second in the conference while Creighton for the season is 309th on turnovers committed on a per possession basis.
Marquette has controlled the perimeter throughout conference play as they led the conference in 3-point shooting percentage while their opponents 31.1% outside shooting ranked second in conference.
A Creighton backcourt that was already having a tough time holding onto the ball will have its hands full on Thursday and revenge will be had for Marquette.
The Play: Marquette -2.5
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