James leads Marquette against No. 17 St. John's

St. John's Red Storm (20-5, 13-1 Big East) at Marquette Golden Eagles (9-17, 4-11 Big East)

Milwaukee; Wednesday, 9 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Marquette hosts No. 17 St. John's after Nigel James Jr. scored 30 points in Marquette's 96-88 loss to the Xavier Musketeers.

The Golden Eagles have gone 9-5 at home. Marquette is fifth in the Big East with 15.7 assists per game led by James averaging 4.9.

The Red Storm are 13-1 in Big East play. St. John's ranks second in the Big East with 34.9 rebounds per game led by Zuby Ejiofor averaging 7.4.

Marquette averages 76.0 points per game, 3.9 more points than the 72.1 St. John's allows. St. John's averages 7.3 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.9 fewer makes per game than Marquette gives up.

The Golden Eagles and Red Storm face off Wednesday for the first time in Big East play this season.

Ejiofor is scoring 16.2 points per game with 7.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists for the Red Storm. Bryce Hopkins is averaging 14 points and 6.9 rebounds over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Eagles: 3-7, averaging 77.9 points, 26.1 rebounds, 17.0 assists, 8.8 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 49.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 79.8 points per game.

Red Storm: 10-0, averaging 82.8 points, 34.8 rebounds, 15.8 assists, 7.5 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 45.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.2 points.

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