Ben Gold has earned back the affection of many Marquette Golden Eagles fans after his brilliant performance in win over the Providence Friars.
The 6’11 forward scored 17 points, his career high, on an efficient seven out of nine shooting.
The team did great from beyond the arc where he went three out of five.
Talking to reporters post-game, Gold said it was all about the team looking for the best shots, something head coach Shaka Smart said was absent in their recent losses.
“We were also just helping each other get open,” he said.
“Whether it was just attacking in space and kicking out. We’re all ready to shoot. We know we’re a high-level shooting team. We do it every single day. We put the work in. It’s good to see it go in, but we know that it’s not just a one-off thing.”
Gold’s 17 points was tied for game high together with Kam Jones.
Marquette Golden Eagles found their rhythm back
Smart previously called out his starters for lacking passion and desperation in their loss to the Villanova Wildcats. The call out was triggered not just by the frustrating result but also of the lack of field goal attempts by the first five.
The starting unit definitely came out to play against the Friars.
Jones was awesome as usual. David Joplin scored just seven points but it does not matter a lot since it was a blowout game.
Stevie Mitchell is the one who made the biggest response from that call out by his coach. He scored 14 points in the game and dished out four assists. He averaged just two points in the last two games.
“I was just proud of our intent coming out,” Mitchell said. “Just focusing on the things we can control, our energy, our spirit. Stuff like that.
“Just playing with more effort. My effort was poor last game. Really, my effort has been poor the last few games. So just stepping up with that and being the head of the spirit or the heart or whatever that may be.”
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