Through the first 10 minutes and change against Little Rock at Fiserv Forum on Wednesday night, you’d be hard pressed to figure out that Marquette men’s basketball was coming off a 23 point loss to Indiana on Sunday. You would have also been hard pressed to figure out that Marquette had relatively recently discovered that they would be without starting point guard Sean Jones for this game, and he spent the game on the bench with a sling on his right arm.
It’s not just the fact that Little Rock ripped
off 10 straight points to take a 20-14 lead right before the clock hit 10:00 remaining in the first half. It’s not just the fact that this was the culmination of a 16-4 run by the visiting Trojans, who themselves were coming off a 20 point loss to Milwaukee on Monday night just a few blocks south of Fiserv.
The whole thing was giving off vibes of a team that seemed to be broadly unaware that the returning players had to step up their games not just because Jones was out but because that was a thing that they had to do this season if they wanted to find themselves on the winning end on the regular. It felt like a lot of guys were playing as if they were still playing a supporting role to Kam Jones and David Joplin instead of being the guys who needed to have guys behind them supporting them.
And that’s how you give up a double digit run to Little Rock to trail by six at the one-quarter pole of the game. “ah, well, I just have to keep the ball moving and I am not the one counted on to do the important things here……” except you are.
One guy we can’t say that about? Nigel James, who took his first career starting assignment deathly seriously, getting the nod in place of Jones. Those four points in the 16-4 run by Little Rock? All from James, giving him six points in the first seven minutes and change of the game, and all night long, he absolutely had the vibes of “hey, ain’t nobody gonna say anything that happens here is my fault.”
James was also instrumental Marquette fixing that 20-14 problem. MU answered the 10-0 Little Rock run with an 11-0 run of their own, and it was James who capped it. He hit a three to give Marquette the lead for good in this game, and then 25 seconds later, he cashed in his own steal for a dunk — I don’t care if you think it wasn’t, the play-by-play says it is, that’s all that counts — and Marquette was up 25-20 with 7:45 to go.
11-0 became 19-2 became 24-5 became 32-7 to end the half. 46-29 Marquette at the intermission….
….. and then the Golden Eagles started the second half with a 18-0 run. 64-29, 13:30 to go, and the lead wouldn’t go back under 30 for the rest of the night.
Here’s how well things were clicking for Marquette after they got it together after trailing by six: Tre Norman had a personal 7-0 run late in the game to push the margin to 40 for the first time.
All told? Marquette closed the game on a 75-29 run. Seems good.
Marquette shot the hell out of the ball, going 52% from the field and 44% from long range. They committed just nine turnovers in the game, and when you have 16 offensive rebounds and turn those into nine points — that’s more than a point per chance, that’s A-OK by me — even nine turnovers don’t really matter.
Chase Ross was your top scorer here, getting 16 points on just nine shots. Ben Gold just barely missed a double-double on 11 points and nine rebounds, and really, the only reason he didn’t get it is because he sat out the final eight minutes of the game. MU finished with 21 assists on 34 makes in the game, and Ross was the leader there with five. Nigel James finished his first career start with 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting, and he had two assists and that steal that led to the dunk, too.
How about some highlights, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and ESPN+?
Up Next: The Golden Eagles will make their first appearance of the season on Peacock on Saturday. Maryland will be the opponent, and tipoff at Fiserv Forum is set for 1pm Central time. GOOD NEWS: Marquette legend Jerel McNeal will be honored with a banner in the rafters at this game. BAD NEWS: Maryland is coached by Buzz Williams. The Terrapins are coming off an 84-64 victory against Alcorn State on Tuesday night.
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