By ADAM ZAGORIA
It’s just past the midway point of the Big East Conference schedule but Marquette junior Markus Howard has emerged as the frontrunner for Big East Player of the Year.
The 5-foot-11 Howard is averaging 24.6 points, 4.2 assists and 4.1 rebounds for a Marquette team that is 19-4, 8-2 in the Big East. He has scored 30+ points six times, 40+ three times and went for a career- and Big East-record 53 points in an overtime win at Creighton on Jan. 9.
“Yeah, you’ve got to look at what he’s done, and what the team’s done,” Villanova coach Jay Wright, whose No. 14 Wildcats face No. 10 Marquette on Saturday, said Thursday on a conference call when I asked if he thought Howard was the frontrunner. “We always try to look at the best player on the best team so you’ve gotta say he’s definitely up there.”