The Marquette Golden Eagles featured their gold vs blue scrimmage on Saturday, October 7, just a few weeks before the college basketball season begins. Team Gold defeated Team Blue 67-61, and there was a lot to take away from that scrimmage before the 2023-2024 season began.
The season will begin on November 6 against the Northern Illinois Huskies. This scrimmage was played at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This game featured two 15-minute halves. Sophomore guard Chase Ross led the gold team with 17 points, and forward Oso Ighodaro led the blue squad with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Ross was one of five players who scored in double digits for the Marquette Golden Eagles on the gold team. Over 1,100 people were in attendance for this game, and the next time to see Marquette basketball in person is October 18 at 6 p.m. for an open practice.
Marquette Golden Eagles Head Coach Shaka Smart Talks About the Gold and Blue Scrimmage to the Media and Praises Chase Ross
Smart told Ashley Walburn of TMJ4 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin:
“It was a great feeling in there to be around people that crave Marquette basketball. Ross has really taken a jump as a player. It’s great to see his confidence. You’ve heard me say this before, Chase Ross is a dude…He was all over the place on the defense end, got some big rebounds, and he was a presence out there for his team that contrubited to them winning.”
Chase Ross last season, in 36 games for the Marquette Golden Eagles, averaged 4.6 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 0.8 APG, 0.1 BPG, and 1.1 SPG. He could be a potential breakout candidate this season for this basketball team as a sophomore. This Marquette team is going to be very deep this season as they will return four starters, including Big East Player of the Year Tyler Kolek. He will be a senior this season.
Kolek in 36 games played a season ago averaged 12.9 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 7.5 APG.
Senior Oso Ighodaro averaged 11.4 PPG, 5.9 RPG, and 3.3 APG in 36 games played a season ago for the Marquette Golden Eagles. Ighodaro told Walburn:
“We proved last year that rankings don’t really mean anything. Just because we may be picked high this year, that doesn’t guarantee us any wins, any stops, any buckets on the court…It doesn’t mean anything.”
The Marquette Golden Eagles will be one of the favorites to cut down the nets in the Final Four this season, and they have not been to the Final Four since 2003. The Golden Eagles will also be one of the favorites to win the Big East Conference, and it is going to be a very difficult path this season.
