The Marquette Golden Eagles basketball team has waded past a few injury bugs this season. While the Golden Eagles have been shorthanded, Kam Jones continues to scorch the nets and provide a steady hand. Marquette has endured injuries to Tyler Kolek, Chase Ross, Oso Ighodaro and a season-ending one to Sean Jones. Kam Jones has been a model of consistency for Marquette despite being overlooked on the star-studded Golden Eagles.
Marquette G Kam Jones playing best ball late in season
Jones has been on a heater and when Marquette needs it most. In the Golden Eagles’ NCAA Tournament opener might have been the biggest moment yet. Jones was there yet again for Shaka Smart and Marquette.
Marquette trailed Western Kentucky 43-36 at halftime. Then Jones went into microwave mode, heating up quickly. Jones has a reputation of scoring in bunches and he put it on display in March Madness.
Jones poured in 28 points on 10 of 16 shooting including draining five 3-pointers.
Kam Jones against Western Kentucky today 🔥:
◼️ 28 PTS
◼️ 10/16 FG
◼️ 5/10 3PT https://t.co/xxMSHJS0BB— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) March 22, 2024
Since the start of February, Jones has four 30-point games, including back-to-back 34-point efforts against DePaul and Xavier.
In the last six games of the regular season, Jones was blazing. Jones has had 30-point games in half of those six games and hasn’t scored fewer than 17 points in those games. He’s also scoring efficiently, shooting over 46% in all six games.
In the regular season finale, Jones had 30 points and nine assists, playing playmaker as well as scorer with Kolek still out. Jones and Oso Ighodaro dominated for Marquette offensively in an 86-80 win over Xavier.
Kolek injured his oblique and missed the last three regular season games and all three Big East Tournament games for Marquette. Ighodaro missed Marquette’s weekend matchup against Creighton due to an illness and seemed a bit off in the Western Kentucky matchup.
While it is never good to be without or having your best players hampered with injury, the late season injury to Kolek and Ighodaro illness really unlocked aggressive Kam Jones. Marquette is at its best with an aggressive Kam Jones offensively. With Kolek back and Ighodaro playing, having Kam Jones aggressively hunting his shot has the Golden Eagles offense humming.
Jones is averaging 23.8 points per game over the last 10 games on 56.3% shooting and 52.1% from 3 (36-for-69). Jones’ hot stretch has the junior having a career year. The combo guard is averaging 17.1 points per game and shooting 50.2% and 41.5% from 3-point land. Despite the strong season, Jones was snubbed from all-Big East honors, which also could be motivating Jones.
I asked Kam Jones what his reaction was when he wasn’t recognized on the All-Big East teams by the coaches.
His response: “Fuck ‘em.”
— John Fanta (@John_Fanta) March 16, 2024
Kam Jones has Marquette offense looking potent in March
You never want your star player injured. However, Tyler Kolek’s oblique injury and missing the Golden Eagles’ last six games before the NCAA Tournament may have unlocked Kam Jones at the most important time of year.
Kolek has returned and looked healthy immediately upon return. With Jones unconscious shooting of late, Marquette looks like a dangerous team in the NCAA Tournament. With Kam Jones locked in and aggressive offensively with Kolek’s elite playmaking back, the Golden Eagles appear to be peaking at exactly the right time.
