Marquette coach Tom Crean’s style is subtle as a sledge hammer – and his team follows his lead.
The Golden Eagles make up in toughness and defense what they give away in style points. And St. John’s – tonight’s opponent – is a long way from winning any beauty pageants, either.
So if this Garden matchup between the Red Storm (19-14 overall, 4-9 in the Big East) and Marquette (18-6, 8-5) looks more like a football game than a basketball contest, well, that’s just fine with St. John’s center Sean Evans and his teammate, forward Justin Burrell.
Both players were football players before turning to basketball late in high school. Burrell has the lean, chiseled look of a former quarterback and safety. Evans has the power frame of a running back/linebacker.
“I thought football was a real sport,” Burrell said. “I hated basketball. I thought it was too individual. But all of my friends started playing, so I played.”
Evans always wanted to play hoops but needed to grow into the sport. He believes his background in football has helped him at the Big East level.
“There’s a constant pounding in practice and games that can wear on a player,” he said. “But I think of football practices and that makes it easier.”
There will be nothing easy about tonight’s game. Marquette is fifth in the league in scoring defense (64.1 points), just ahead of St. John’s, which has allowed 65.
The Golden Eagles are in the hunt for one of the four first-round byes in the upcoming Big East Conference tournament. The Red Storm are fighting not to be one of the four teams not invited.
“We know how it is,” said Evans. “This is the hard part of the season, especially for the freshmen. The last 10 games are tough. But we want to get in, so just like in football, you’ve got to forget the bumps and bruises and go play.”
MARQ. at ST. JOHN’S Tonight 7:00 ESPN2