The Marquette men’s basketball team was desperate for its first Big East victory. It needed to throw the early punch. Marquette’s best player, Justin Lewis, made sure that was the case. Lewis was in attack mode all night and the Golden Eagles played like the desperate team on Tuesday night. Marquette earned an 88-56 blowout win over No. 16 Providence.
Something that became clear during the game was this is what Marquette needs to see from Justin Lewis. Lewis was in constant attack mode against the Friars. His thunderous dunk got him started and he never slowed down, relentlessly attacking the rim.
Much too often, Lewis has drifted around the perimeter and settled for 3-pointers. Not Tuesday, and the results showed as the Golden Eagles thumped Providence. Lewis netted a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds. His aforementioned dunk earned on number five on SportsCenter’s Top 10.
Marquette Star Justin Lewis This Season
Justin Lewis has been pretty good this season, averaging 15.7 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, both leading the Marquette Golden Eagles. However, the 6-foot-7 forward, was averaging five 3-pointers attempted per game entering Tuesday. He is shooting under 28 percent from three after shooting just 21.9 percent from beyond the arc last year. Last year, though, he attempted just 1.5 threes per game.
It’s not that he shouldn’t shoot any threes, but he shouldn’t be shooting 5 threes per game, especially when he can do what he did Tuesday. Lewis played inside out and is extremely hard to guard in the paint. He hit 7 of 16 shots, hit all seven free throw attempts and hit 2 of 4 3-pointers.
Lewis playing in attack mode and letting his dominance inside account for most of his shot attempts should help Marquette’s (until Tuesday) grinding offense. Additionally, his aggressiveness should trickle down to other teammates. When your best player is attacking, it nudges others to attack and creates open shots for others as well.
If Marquette gets this Justin Lewis, expect the Golden Eagles to start climbing out of the bottom rung of the Big East.
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