In its last home game of the regular season, the Marquette men’s basketball team hosted the St. John’s Saturday night at Fiserv Forum.
Behind a 40 combined points from Greg Elliot, Darryl Morsell and Kur Kuath, the Golden Eagles defeated the Red Storm 85-77.
Here’s a breakdown of the Golden Eagles’ win:
Game MVP:
After scoring 12 points with two rebounds against DePaul Wednesday, Morsell bounced back on senior night with 20 points, six rebounds and four assists.
In 33 minutes, the Baltimore, Maryland native, shot 8-for-14 from the field and notched four assists on the night.
“(Morsell’s) a good mid-range shooter, especially when he gets it going and he’s kind of feeling the balance,” Marquette head coach Shaka Smart said. “I thought early in the game, he really set a tone for us getting in the paint … the more we can get him in the paint, the better.”
Key Stats:
- Both Marquette and St. John’s shot for less than 50% from the field and less than 35% from beyond the arc.
- Marquette shot 20-25 from the free throw line
- Marquette outscored St. John’s in the paint 42-34
- St. John’s outscored Marquette’s bench 43-17
Notes:
- Redshirt first-year forward Justin Lewis lead the Golden Eagles scoring with 28 points on 9 of 20 shooting
- Redshirt junior guard Greg Elliot went 5-for-5 from the charity stripe.
- Despite shooting 0-2 with no points, redshirt freshman Tyler Kolek lead the Golden Eagles in assists, with six.
- The Golden Eagles finished the regular season with a 13-3 record on their home court.
- With the win, Marquette secured the No. 5 seed and a first-round bye in the BIG EAST Tournament.
Quote of the Day:
Smart said he was already looking ahead to what’s next on Marquette’s schedule: The BIG EAST tournament next week.
“Basically, the post season started today” Smart said after learning about Seton Hall’s fifths straight win today against Creighton. “We knew that we had to go win this game if we wanted a bye.”
Next Game:
Marquette will now travel to Madison Square Garden for the BIG EAST Tournament. The Golden Eagles will match up with the Creighton Bluejays Thursday at 1:30 pm CST.
This article was written by Benjamin Wells. He can be reached at b[email protected] or on Twitter @beananan.