No. 24 Marquette in recovery mode against Presbyterian

MILWAUKEE -- Marquette's return to the Top 25 was spoiled thanks to a 23-point loss to Indiana earlier this week. Now the No. 24 Golden Eagles will look to get back on track against Presbyterian on Saturday afternoon.

Inside play was Marquette's biggest issue against Indiana, which finished 22 drives with a layup or a dunk and scored 50 points in the paint. The Golden Eagles failed to block a shot and allowed 50 points in the paint.

"In the second half, I thought we played real soft in the paint," Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski said. "We got to play better (inside). We need more production from that position, there's no question about that.

"I believe they can play better and we have to help them know what it means to play better. And then they have to do it on the floor."

A lot of those struggles can be attributed to growing pains. Sophomore Theo John was making just his second career start and junior Ed Morrow Jr., a transfer from Nebraska who missed time during the offseason while recovering from hernia surgery, is still getting adjusted to Wojciechowski's system.

"When you transfer and you have to sit out a year, it's not easy," Wojciechowski said. "We got a lot of guys who are trying to get traction and learn our system and do the right thing. Ed's one of those guys and he's going to be a very, very important player for us."

Wojciechowski was encouraged by the play of freshman Joey Hauser, who had 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting with four rebounds. The 6-foot-9 Hauser normally plays forward, but Wojciechowski used him at center with impressive results when going with a smaller lineup.

"I've said it from the jump, Joey doesn't play like a freshman," junior guard and reigning Big East Player of the Week Markus Howard said. "We hold him to a high standard and he exceeds that.

"He's going to continue to get better as time goes on and once he gets his feet wet in the college game. Really looking forward to big things coming from Joey."

The Blue Hose (3-1) have scored more than 100 points in each of their last two games, but will be facing slightly stiffer competition against the Golden Eagles, the first of two consecutive ranked opponents for coach Dustin Kearns' squad.

Four Presbyterian players are averaging in double figures through the first four games with senior forward Francois Lewis leading the way with 16.8 points per game. Freshman guard Adam Flagler is averaging 11.3, fellow freshman Chris Martin sits at 11.0 and junior guard JC Younger is averaging 10.0.

Flagler scored 12 points his last time out as Presbyterian rode a 26-3 run to a 102-49 rout of Boyce, a National Christian College Athletic Association program.

The Blue Hose will visit Milwaukee for their fourth meeting with the Golden Eagles since 2008. Marquette has won each of the pervious three meetings, most recently an 84-66 decision at the Bradley Center on Dec. 27, 2015.