Marquette Men’s Basketball: Markus Howard Remains Doubtful For DePaul

Marquette Golden Eagles sophomore guard Markus Howard missed Wednesday night’s game against St. John’s with a hip contusion suffered in MU’s previous game against Creighton. After the game against the Red Storm, MU head coach Steve Wojciechowski was, of course, asked about Howard’s status going forward, and he said that there is no change.

Thus, Markus Howard remains doubtful for Saturday’s upcoming game on the road against DePaul Blue Demons.

Wojo also stated that he has no part in the process of deciding whether Howard can or can not play, leaving that to Brandon Yoder, the MU director of sports medicine, Todd Smith, the MU director of sports performance, and, of course Howard himself.

Here’s Wojo talking about Howard during his media availability on Tuesday.

And here’s Wojo’s press availability after the game on Wednesday night, with the Howard discussion coming at the very end, starting at the 4:31 mark.

Howard is averaging 21.3 points (2nd best in the Big East), 3.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists this season after tallying six points and one helper before his injury against the Bluejays. The sophomore from Arizona had just seven points on 2-of-7 shooting in Marquette’s previous game against DePaul this season, but contributed three rebounds and five assists in what was a sub-par offensive performance by the entire team.

Following Wednesday’s 85-73 victory over St. John’s, Marquette stands at 16-11 overall and 7-8 in Big East play. If the Golden Eagles want to keep their at-large berth hopes for the NCAA tournament alive, they will most likely need to win each of their remaining three games, starting with their first ever trip to Wintrust Arena in Chicago on Saturday.