The Marquette Golden Eagles were ranked 8th in the AP Poll last week. On Monday, they moved up to 7th in the AP Poll. They are one of three teams in the Big East Conference that are ranked in the top 10. The other teams from the conference that are ranked are the UCONN Huskies at number five and the Creighton Blue Jays at number eight.
Marquette over the last week defeated the Texas Longhorns 86-65 on Wednesday and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 78-59 on Saturday night. In the game against the Fighting Irish, there were three players in double figures for the Marquette Golden Eagles.
Oso Ighodaro led the way with 20 points. Tyler Kolek scored 17 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and recorded seven assists. Kam Jones also scored 11 points in the contest.
This week, Marquette will have one game on Thursday night against St. Thomas, Minnesota before beginning conference play in the Big East.
Marquette Golden Eagles Have Played Well Up To This Point
Marquette’s record so far this season is 8-2 and they should be 9-2 before they open up conference play. The Golden Eagles did very well outside of conference play. The only two losses were to the Purdue Boilermakers and in-state rival Wisconsin Badgers.
Those are acceptable losses and not bad losses for an NCAA Tournament resume. The Golden Eagles could be a 1, 2, or a 3 seed this year depending on how conference play goes in the BIG East. Head coach Shaka Smart has a very fast basketball team and they are also very deep.
Kam Jones has played in 10 games so far this season. He is averaging 15.9 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 2.5 APG for the Marquette Golden Eagles.
Tyler Kolek has also played in 10 games so far this season. He is averaging 15.3 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 5.5 APG for Marquette.
Oso Ighodaro has appeared in 10 games this year for the Golden Eagles. He is averaging 13.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 2.3 APG. It is very possible that these three players could be considered for the Big East Conference’s first or second team when the time comes.
The Marquette Golden Eagles moving up a spot in the AP Poll isn’t surprising. It will be interesting to see whether or not they will stay in the Top 10 rankings all season long or not.
