Markus Howard put together one of the most impressive individual scoring performances that you will ever see in the college ranks on Wednesday night.
Marquette’s 6-foot-1 sophomore scored 52 points in a critical, 95-90 overtime win at Providence in a game that will assuredly help the Golden Eagles’ NCAA tournament profile in two months. Those 52 points tied a Big East record that was set by former Providence guard Marshon Brooks back in 2011 and set a record for a program that includes the likes of Dwyane Wade, Jimmy Butler and Jae Crowder as alumni.
Howard finished the night shooting 17-for-29 from the floor and 11-for-19 from three. He made all seven free throws he shot, meaning he still has not missed from the charity stripe this season. He’s unequivocally one of the best shooters in all of college basketball - he made 54.9 percent of his triples last season - but Howard has been in something of a slump this year. Prior to Wednesday’s performance, he was hitting just 37.7 percent from beyond the arc, although that dip in efficiency can justifiably be attributed to the fact that he’s shooting nearly twice as many threes per game this year.
But here’s the most impressive part of what Howard did: At halftime, he had 10 points and was just 2-for-6 from three. In the second half alone, he popped off for 32 points and seven threes, not to mention the 10 points - including another pair of triples - that he knocked down in the overtime period.
I think it’s safe to say that his slump is over.