National Marquette Day is the biggest day of the year for the school and Marquette Golden Eagles coach Shaka Smart expects only top level basketball when they play the UConn Huskies.
The 2024 NCAA Tournament winners will be the main visitors on that special day.
Although Marquette is currently ranked higher in the standings, Smart believes they will remain a formidable opponent. To him, this game will be a good test for his squad.
“UConn speaks for themselves in terms of the program that they’ve built and the team that they have,” Smart said during media availability on Thursday.
“It’s going to be a heck of an environment. Two Big East teams going after it at a high level. For us, we’re excited about a chance to work at being our best over a 40-minute game.”
The Huskies have been inconsistent lately. They are 3-3 in their last six, including losses to Creighton Bluejays who are on hot streak and to Xavier University which also beat the Golden Eagles recently.
Huskies have the Golden Eagles’ numbers, too. UConn beat Marquette eighh times in their last 10.
The Marquette crowd will try their best to support their team.
Dan Hurley shows respect for Shaka Smart, Marquette
The very vocal and at times controversial Dan Hurley feels the same about their upcoming opponent.
Everybody will expect the Fiserv Forum to be as loud as it can get when they host the Huskies but Hurley does not think they will cross the line.
As for Smart and his team, Hurley thought he sees some similarities between them when it comes to their philosophy.
“It’s first-class all-around there, with the culture, the winning, the way they develop players,” Hurley said on Friday.
“They play a style of basketball that you respect the heck out of — the togetherness of the group, how hard they play, obviously the talent and skill of the players.”
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