Markus Howard Drops 51 vs. USC One Day After 40-Point Game

Marquette basketball star Markus Howard was back to his scoring ways in Orlando against the USC Trojans.

Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

Markus Howard, the most explosive scorer in college basketball, is putting on quite the show in Orlando.

After scoring 40 in Marquette's 73–63 win over Davidson in the first round of the Orlando Invitational on Thanksgiving, the Golden Eagles senior guard dazzled further with a 51-point performance in a 101-79 trouncing of USC one day later. Howard became the first player in Big East history to score at least 40 points in back-to-back games, let alone back-to-back days.

It was the third 50-point game of Howard's career. His career-high of 53 came in an overtime win over Creighton last season, and he also had a 40-point half in 2018.

Against the Trojans on Friday, Howard had 26 points by halftime and was pulled with 5:35 to go in the game after reaching 51. He went 9-for-17 from three (14-for-24 overall from the floor) and made 14 of his 17 free throw attempts, combining his high-volume ways with an extremely efficient showing. Howard has a knack for creating space for himself and can heat up in a hurry, and his ability to hit difficult shots makes him nearly impossible for opponents to stop when he gets going.

Through six games in 2019-20, Howard has been scorching the nets from deep, shooting 49.1% from three. For his career, he's a 43.5% shooter from the outside, including a superb 54.7% mark on 150 attempts as a freshman. 

In dismantling USC, Howard and Marquette (5-1) advanced to the Orlando Invitational championship game, where they'll meet No. 5 Maryland (7-0) on Sunday afternoon. Stay tuned to see what the player who has scored 91 points in two days can do next.