Marquette Golden Eagles had their backs up against the wall on Saturday afternoon. Marquette trailed by more than 10 on the road to Xavier in the second half. That didn’t phase them. Instead, the Golden Eagles battled back for their sixth straight victory winning 87-82. Joey and Sam Hauser both hit big shots to take down the Musketeers. Marquette also locked down defensively holding Xavier without a point for more than six minutes.

Player of the Game: Joey Hauser – While Sam had another nice day, Joey deserves the honor for this game. He was the only offense in the first half where Marquette did their best to keep to a close game. Hauser finished with a career-high 21 points with six rebounds. He also made five threes in this game including an amazing 26 footer than put some distance in Marquette’s lead If he can become a reliable three-point shooter, look out world. In his last three games, Hauser is 10-for-14 from three.

Silver Star: Matt Heldt – We talked about Heldt on Sunday, but Marquette does not win the game unless he’s in the game. Heldt did so much for the Golden Eagles that did not show up in the box score. He slowed down the Xavier big men who were eating in the first half of this game. Heldt’s biggest play of the game was the offensive rebound he grabbed with Marquette down one then kicked it to Sam Hauser for a pure three pointer.

Thing I liked: Next man up – Like we mentioned with Heldt, it’s great to see a guy step up when his name is called. That’s happened in the last two road games for Marquette. Markus Howard goes down with an injury, and who steps up but Brendan Bailey with a great 27 minutes. On Saturday, Theo John found himself in a world of foul trouble, and that led to Heldt being the guy.

Thing I didn’t like: Defensive still isn’t traveling – Despite being the best defense in the Big East, Marquette has not shown it enough on the road. Xavier hadn’t scored more than 70 points in all but one Big East game this season. Musketeers were able to get 82. That’s not good. Hopefully, Marquette can figure out how to bring their home defense on the road.

Next up: Marquette heads to the very tough Butler on Wednesday night. It feels like a bear trap. Marquette is on a long winning streak while Butler needs a big win to boost their bubble resume. Butler has beat Marquette the last five times, and the Golden Eagles have not won at Hinkle Fieldhouse since 1990. Let’s hope some streaks die this week.

Charlie.