Marquette faces tough test vs No. 19 Butler

No. 19 Butler (18-5, 6-4) vs. Marquette (16-6, 6-4)

Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee; Sunday, 12 a.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: No. 19 Butler presents a tough challenge for Marquette. Marquette has won one of its three games against ranked opponents this season. Butler snuck past Villanova by three points on Wednesday.

SAVVY VETERANS: Each of these teams has relied heavily on their seniors this year. Markus Howard, Sacar Anim, Koby McEwen and Brendan Bailey have collectively accounted for 73 percent of Marquette’s scoring this season. For Butler, Kamar Baldwin, Sean McDermott and Bryce Nze have scored 54 percent of the team’s points this season, including 74 percent of all Bulldogs points over their last five.

CREATING OFFENSE: Howard has either made or assisted on 50 percent of all Marquette field goals over the last five games. Howard has accounted for 44 field goals and 19 assists in those games.

STREAK STATS: Marquette has won its last three home games, scoring an average of 81 points while giving up 68.3.

PASSING FOR POINTS: The Bulldogs have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Golden Eagles. Marquette has 32 assists on 74 field goals (43.2 percent) across its past three contests while Butler has assists on 33 of 74 field goals (44.6 percent) during its past three games.

DID YOU KNOW: The Marquette offense is ranked 30th in the nation by scoring 78.3 points per game this season. Butler has only averaged 69.4 points per game, which ranks 213th.