The Marquette Golden Eagles needed to make a statement for themselves, after coming off of a lopsided defeat to Providence on Tuesday. There were encouraging signs from this game, positives that will hopefully continue to carry over as Big East play gets into full swing.
Marquette Golden Eagles Offense
The most encouraging aspect of this win was the fact that the offense was able to flow through Tyler Kolek, and did not require him to be the entirety of the offense. While there were still times Tyler Kolek won his individual matchups against his defender, for the most part, he was able to play as a true point guard. Of course, when he did, he showed his premiere abilities at the rim with his finishes, and displayed why he is one of the best players college basketball has to offer. But it was important for this Marquette Golden Eagles team that his heroics were not needed in order to produce a consistent offense.
Tyler Kolek finished with 13 points, on six of eleven shooting. But more importantly, he had double digit assists with ten. While he did have, what is for him, a high amount of four turnovers, this came after 31 minutes of handling the rock and dishing to teammates, and looking to make plays for others. This is evident by the fact that the Marquette Golden Eagles as whole ended the game with only 11 turnovers from the whole game. Especially because of how the game got out of hand, it is not uncommon to see teams get sloppy with the ball, playing with a large cushion.
Marquette Golden Eagles Breakout Performance
In order to get ten assists you need someone to knock down some shots and make their opportunities. David Joplin had a career night. The obvious facet of his game to point to was his knocking down of three point shots. David Joplin knocked down four of his seven shots from range, and ended up finishing with 20 points.
But this was not the best part of the night. Yes, the Marquette Golden Eagles will need people to continue to knock down open opportunities, and turn around the shooting woes that have been prevalent so far this season. But more importantly, David Joplin was aggressive, looking for opportunities to score, and helped to open the floor up. For the rest of this season, knowing that he can be due for a large point contribution will prove helpful.
Marquette Golden Eagles Defense
The best number of the night from the Marquette Golden Eagles win was 51. They held a Georgetown team to 32.8% field goal shooting, while really keeping their three point shooting at bay. They held the Georgetown squad to 20% from three on five of twenty five shots.
And while the Marquette Golden Eagles only had eleven turnovers, active hands and good defensive awareness led to nineteen turnovers that became 18 points off of turnovers. Off of eleven total steals, the defensive intensity was another aspect that was good to see.
For a Marquette Golden Eagles team that has at limes looked really good, and that has had a couple of rough off nights, this performance was a needed total victory. As this team prepares to close out the year against Creighton, they will need to keep up this level of play for forty minutes, if they hope to close out the year with a win.
