Marquette men’s basketball began the Shaka Smart Era with a close 88-77 win over the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Cougars Nov. 9 at Fiserv Forum.
Here’s a breakdown of the Golden Eagles win:
Game MVP: Darryl Morsell
The reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year put up a solid performance in front of fans, notching 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting along with four rebounds and two assists.
“He just kept coming,” Southern Illinois University Edwardsville men’s basketball head coach Brian Barone said. “He had a nice little bounce about himself. He just he looked like he was having fun out there, a little too much fun, wish it wasn’t quite that much. He did what he needed to do.”
In the second half alone, Morsell scored 11 points, three rebounds and an assist. He mentioned Smart was on him at halftime to bring a spark to the team.
“The biggest key for Daryll is really embodying who we want to be in terms of the extension of our coaching staff, the way we want to approach defense, the way we want to communicate as a team,” Smart said. “I’m hard on him because he’s capable of doing so much.”
Key Stats:
- Marquette went 4-for-18 (.222) from the 3-point line in the first half.
- The Golden Eagles caused 15 turnovers in the first half which resulted in 17 points.
- SIUE finished with 27 points off fast breaks and from its bench while Marquette finished with 26 and 25 points respectively.
- At halftime, the Golden Eagles led 39-38 despite shooting just 22.2% from beyond the arc.
- Marquette’s biggest run of the night was a 9-0 stretch at the 16:54 mark of the second half.
Notes:
- Redshirt first-year guard Tyler Kolek led the team with nine assists on the night.
- Marquette is 89-16 all-time in season openers and have now claimed 29 of their last 31 overall.
- Redshirt first-year forward Justin Lewis recorded his first collegiate career double-double finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
- The Golden Eagles completed the contest shooting 44.1% from the field and 27% from beyond the arc.
- Stevie Mitchell became the first Marquette first-year to reach double digit figures in the young season. The Reading, Pennsylvania, native contributed 14 points and four rebounds.
Quote of the Day:
Tuesday night’s season opener served as a homecoming for Barrone. The third-year head coach played two years at Marquette before later serving on former head coach Tom Crean’s staff.
“This place is home and I hope that locker room over there in Marquette understand that,” Barrone said. “It was special to have an opportunity to come back and compete with a team I’m very proud to coach. And I told them that I said, this is a team that I’m glad to come in back into my into my home (with). I love this place.”
Next Up:
Marquette will host the University of New Hampshire Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m. Central Standard Time.
This article was written by John Leuzzi. He can be reached at john.leuzzi@marquette.edu or on Twitter @JohnLeuzziMU.
