If you weren’t 100% on board with what was going on with Marquette men’s basketball through the first 20 minutes of the season, that’s fine.
The Golden Eagles led 30-21 at the break while shooting an awful 32% from the field and an even worse 18% from behind the three-point line. 17 of their 31 first half shots came from behind the three-point line, which is waaaaaaay too many, misses or not, and with 38 possessions in the first half, they came away with more than one-fifth of those as a turnover.
You could tell, pretty much from the get go, and then consistently over the first 20 minutes, that Sean Jones, Marquette’s starting point guard, was 1) playing his first game since January 2023, and 2) not a preseason candidate to be an All-American the way MU’s point guard the last two seasons was. With that many shots and that many turnovers, all of the blame can not be laid at Jones’ feet, but the lack of fluidity and cohesion and vibes can be hung on a lack of familiarity amongst the guys on the floor.
But as much of a bummer that was, it was clear that the defense was working to a tee. Maybe it was partially helped along by the visiting Great Danes trying to assemble a rotation with nine new transfers on the roster, but Marquette’s defensive intensity was clear pretty much from the start. The Golden Eagles wrapped up the first half with seven kills and 25 deflections, and it’s at this point that I remind you that head coach Shaka Smart has set eight kills and 32 deflections as his full game goals for his team every single night.
As much of a struggle as it was for Marquette to score, the Golden Eagles had the Great Danes in a torture chamber in the first 20 minutes, and things really did not get much nicer on their visit to Milwaukee in the second half. Albany finished the game with an effective field goal percentage under 33%, a turnover rate just short of 30%, and a points per possession mark of just 0.69 per trip on average.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the floor, Marquette stopped settling for three-pointers. Just seven of their 27 second half shots were from behind the arc, which helped the Golden Eagles shoot nearly 52% from the field. A 14-0 run by the Golden Eagles early on in the second half broke the game open and shot the margin out to 20, and when they extended that to 21-2, it was a 25 point game, 51-26, with 12:38 to go.
Do you know who was critical in that 21-2 run?
TRE NORMAN. He had all seven of his points in there and looked like a competent, confident, Big East contributor.
Whatever threat the Great Danes had left in this one went out the door with a 10-0 run capped by a pair of free throws from Damarius Owens, and a Sean Jones layup with 3:49 to play, got the lead to 30 for the first time before it ended up settling at 27, 80-53, at the final horn.
Three Golden Eagles got to double digits here, led by 15 points from Chase Ross. Zaide Lowery added 13, and Damarius Owens had 11 off the bench. Ben Gold is your rebounding leader here with eight, although we have to tip our cap to the three offensive rebounds each from Lowery and Tre Norman. Ross also led the way for Marquette in assists with five, while Sean Jones got to four helpers as MU had 16 assists on 24 makes in the game.
Going back to the defense for a second? 12 kills by the end, which is apparently a new program record. Seems good!
How about some highlights, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and ESPN+?
Up Next: Hopefully lots of rest and recovery, as the Golden Eagles will be back in action on Wednesday night. They’ll be at home again for a 7pm Central time start against Southern, and ESPN+ will have the broadcast again. The Jaguars opened their 2024-25 campaign on Monday with a 109-77 loss at Arkansas.
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