Weekend preview: Impact of injuries being felt entering March
Myron Medcalf discusses injury issues for championship hopefuls and picks a winner from a handful of the most important games this weekend.
No. 5 Marquette Golden Eagles (22-6, 13-4 Big East) at No. 12 Creighton Bluejays (21-8, 12-6)
Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET, FOXIn the two games prior to Wednesday's 91-69 win over Providence -- victories over DePaul and Xavier -- Tyler Kolek recorded 28 assists and three turnovers. The Golden Eagles are a more fluid team when the potential All-American and NBA prospect is both a potent scorer and effective distributor. Marquette is 12-1 when Kolek finishes with at least eight assists in a game this season. He has averaged 5.6 APG and 2.8 turnovers per game in Marquette's six losses. In his team's lopsided loss at UConn last Saturday, he finished with three assists and four turnovers. It's no secret whom Creighton will attempt to stall in this matchup ... but only if Kolek is available. He left Wednesday's game with an oblique injury. If he can't go, everything changes. Even a fully healthy team would have a challenge with this Creighton squad.
Ryan Kalkbrenner (17.1 PPG, 2.9 BPG) has been a force on both ends of the floor for Creighton. But the Bluejays, who take 3-pointers on nearly half of their field goal attempts, can get disrupted by their volume shooting. After a big win over UConn last week, they shot 6-for-26 from beyond the arc in a 14-point road loss to St. John's on Sunday. Then, that same group hit 41% of its 3-point attempts in a Wednesday victory over Seton Hall. Kolek or not, Marquette will have its hands full with this Creighton squad.
Medcalf's pick: Creighton, 86-80; Against the spread: Creighton (-4.5)
