ALUMNI GET PAST THE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT’S FIRST WEEKEND
It was touch-and-go at times, but the top-seeded Golden Eagles Alumni won both of their opening weekend games in The Basketball Tournament by comfortable margins. The Alumni beat the Midwest Dream Squad 103-89 in the opening round, then followed it up with an 81-70 win over the Majerus SLU Crew in round two.
Both games started with the Alumni struggling from the floor and trailing for much of the opening half. “We just came out relaxed,” Buycks said of the Alumni’s performance against the Dream Squad, although that could have been said about the Majerus SLU Crew game as well. “We were letting them feel the game too much and we basically had to wake up.”
Buycks led the way in scoring for the first game with 21 points, including four three-pointers in just over one minute of second-half action. Fellow guard Darius Johnson-Odom leads the team in scoring average through two games at 17.5 points per contest.
The stage now shifts to Brooklyn, where the Alumni will face off against Purple and Black, a team of Kansas State alumni, in the round of 16 at 1 p.m. CST Saturday. If the Alumni win, their round of eight game would be the next day at 11 a.m. CST.
JAMIL WILSON PREPARES TO SIGN TWO-WAY DEAL WITH CLIPPERS
A solid performance in the Vegas Summer League has paid dividends for Marquette Basketball alumnus Jamil Wilson, who will reportedly opt out of his Euroleague deal with Brose Bamberg in Germany to sign a two-way deal with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Only players with less than four years of experience can sign two-way deals, and Wilson has three. While players on two-way contracts must spend most of their time in the G-league, they can also be called up to the NBA for up to 45 days without occupying a regular roster spot. This means Wilson will spend most of his time on the Agua Caliente Clippers, the pro team’s G-League squad based out of Ontario.
Wilson averaged 10.8 points per game on a 78.6 field goal percentage in relatively limited action over five games with the Clippers’ summer league team. Since the new deal has not technically been signed yet, Wilson is still free to participate in TBT as part of the Golden Eagles Alumni.
VANDER BLUE LIGHTS UP THE SUMMER LEAGUE
If it seems like a new Marquette alumnus is performing well in summer league every week, that’s only because it’s true. This week, it’s Vander Blue, who averaged 15 points on nearly 50 percent shooting in eight games with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers won the Summer League championship, 110-98, over the Portland Trail Blazers. Vander Blue scored 20 points, dished six assists and corralled five rebounds in the victory.
Now entering his fifth season since leaving Marquette in 2013, Vander Blue has still yet to catch on as a regular part of an NBA roster. He has bounced around the G-League with four different teams, most recently landing on the Los Angles D-Fenders, the Lakers’ minor league squad. Blue has been in the NBA before, playing in three games with the Boston Celtics and two with the Lakers.
QUICK SHOTS
– Another blank date has been filled in on the 2017-’18 Marquette basketball non-conference schedule. Jon Rothstein announced on Twitter that the Golden Eagles will play Virginia Commonwealth (VCU) in the opening round of the Maui Invitational on Nov. 20. Marquette will play either Wichita State or California the next day and one of four opponents – Michigan, LSU, Notre Dame or Chaminade – on Nov. 22.
– Four Marquette men’s lacrosse players made the U.S. lacrosse training team that will compete at the 2018 Federation of International Lacrosse World Championships. Liam Byrnes, B.J. Grill, Jacob Richard and Ryan Brown will all make the trip to Israel next July as part of the 49-man team. Head coach Joe Amplo will serve as one of the American contingent’s assistant coaches.
– Men’s golf’s assistant coach Gator Todd left Marquette to be an assistant at Vanderbilt University last week. Todd spent only one season at Marquette, during which the Golden Eagles won the BIG EAST championship.
