Sophomore guard Markus Howard of the Marquette University men’s basketball team has been named the BIG EAST Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday morning.
Howard, who also claimed the accolade on Dec. 11, averaged 44.5 points, 5.0 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game last week in road games at Providence (W, 95-90, OT) and No. 3/3 Villanova (L, 100-90). He combined to shoot 53.6 percent (30-of-56) from the field, 50.0 percent (16-of-32) from behind the 3-point line and was perfect (13-of-13) from the charity stripe.
The Chandler, Arizona, native’s week was highlighted by a record-setting 52-point effort in the win against the Friars and he followed that up with a 37-point performance at Villanova. Howard is currently in possession of the top-two scoring efforts in league play this season and tops the BIG EAST in scoring (28.8 ppg.) in conference outings.
Howard also claimed the weekly national player of the week honor from the Lute Olson Award. The Lute Olson Award is presented annually to the nation's top Division I player who has played at least two seasons with his respective team. Freshmen and first-year transfers can be named to the All-America team, but are not eligible to receive the Player of the Year honors.
Highlights from Howard’s record-setting point total on Jan. 3 are listed below.
- Tied BIG EAST record (52, Marshon Brooks, Providence vs. Notre Dame, 2/23/11)
- New Marquette single-game record (previous was 44, Tony Smith, vs. Wisconsin, 2/19/90 and Mike Moran, vs. Creighton, 2/5/58)
- 11 3-point field goals are new record in BIG EAST games all-time and a single-game high in NCAA this season
- 11 3-point field goals tied his own MU record (vs. Chicago State, 11/29/17)
- 17 field goals are new single-game MU record. Previous high was 16, which had been recorded five times (most recently in 1968)
- 32 second-half points were most in any half in a BIG EAST game (previous record 28 points by Kerry Kittles, Villanova, vs. Boston College, 2/28/95)
- First NCAA player to score 50-or-more since Chris Clemons of Campbell scored 51 vs. UNC Asheville in the Big South Tournament on March 2, 2017.
- Most points ever scored against Providence by an opponent
- Howard has now made 58-of-58 free throws (51-of-51 in 2017-18) dating back to Creighton last season on March 4, 2017
Photo: Getty Images