The Marquette Golden Eagles are 2-0 in conference play as they defended the Fiserv Forum home court against a formidable Creighton Blue Jays team. While not only getting the win, the Marquette Golden Eagles home crowd was also able to break an arena record with 18,086 fans in attendance as was announced during the fixture. With a little help from head coach Shake Smart in the game plan and on the court, the team will be looking to build off of this performance into the heat of Big East play.
Marquette Golden Eagles Start
The Marquette Golden Eagles defeated Creighton 72-67. While the game did not start the way they were hoping for, the way the team was able to close out the game will bode well for future matchups.
After an initial 14-3 letup, Marquette was able to respond by going on a 23-12 run of their own to tie the game up with three minutes remaining in the half. This included an eight-point contribution from Kam Jones during this stretch who contributed much-needed two made field goal attempts from three-point range.
Another welcome addition from off the bench was Sean Jones, who cashed a three off of the assist from Chase Ross. Off of the bench, Sean Jones gave the Marquette Golden Eagles 15 points off of the bench. He finished a good 5 of 8 from the field while going 3 of 5 from beyond the arc. If he is able to continue to produce at a consistent level, this would not only earn him more minutes but provide much-needed depth for the guard positions.
The Marquette Eagles Go As Tyler Kolek Goes
While Tyler Kolek finished the game with 15 points and 8 assists for the Marquette Golden Eagles, he had a slow first half for his standards. With only five points and one assist at the half, it was his second-half leadership that allowed his team to have a comfortable enough lead at the end to finish Creighton off with free throws.
As we have known coming into the year and throughout the season so far, this Marquette Golden Eagles team will need Kolek to play well every night, and cannot afford for him to have an off day.
Marquette Golden Eagles Other Notes Of The Game
Despite an earlier attempt by head coach Smart to help out the defensive assignments, for the most part, it was not needed. While the Creighton guards were able to get themselves going offensively, the front court did a great job in their assignments of limiting the Creighton bigs.
Shaka Smart with the ELITE help defense😤‼️
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) December 30, 2023
One important return of note was that of Stevie Mitchell. Getting himself back into a rhythm, and looking to find his place in the rotation again, he finished with 7 points, and four boards in his first game back from a short absence.
Oso Ighodaro really did well in this game, and while it may not have shown up on the scoring board, it showed in his hustle. Ighodaro finished with a game-high 16 rebounds, nine of which were offensive boards.
The tenth-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles will look forward to their next test as they prepare to face the Seton Hall Pirates in early January.
