After clinching its first outright regular season Big East title in Indianapolis Tuesday night, the No. 6 Marquette men’s basketball team returned home for the regular season finale against the St. John’s Red Storm.
The Golden Eagles were able to celebrate with the home fans by cutting down the nets after holding to a 96-94 win over the Red Storm.
Here’s a breakdown of the game:
Game MVP:
It was another strong offensive performance for sophomore guard Kam Jones as he put up 23 points on an efficient 8-for-14 shooting from the field and 5-of-10 from three-point range.
Jones started the first half out hot, hitting four three pointers, including back-to-back three pointers to give Marquette a 30-11 lead with 10:54 remaining.
“I look forward to playing them, it’s a lot of back-and-forth action and I just got a lot of open shots,” Jones said. “I mean there were 12 open ones so I just took them.”
Key Stats:
- Marquette forced 11 turnovers in the first half and scored 17 points off those turnovers.
- The Golden Eagles had 19 assists on 26 made baskets. Junior guard Tyler Kolek had nine of those assists.
- Junior forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper scored all 10 points in the first half and went 0-for-1 from the field in the second half.
- The Marquette defense held David Jones to just four points on 2-for-7 shooting from the field. Jones was averaging 13 points per game.
Notes:
- Marquette ends the season with a record of 18-2 when leading at half-time.
- The Golden Eagles have now won three straight matchups against the Red-Strom and lead the all-time series 26-16.
- The 53 points Marquette put up in the first half was a season high. The previous high was 52 against NC Central Dec. 6.
- Jones put up double figures in 24-of-31 games this season and in four of his last six games.
Quote of the Day:
During the postgame celebration, Jones was on the ground at center court making “confetti-angels,” and said, “They counted us out,” calling back to the Golden Eagles being picked to finish ninth in the Big East preseason coaches’ poll.
“We went into the season wanting to win for us, but us being picked ninth that was always in the back of our head,” Jones said. “That was always a motivator, and I think I’m speaking for everyone else on the team when I say it felt good to tell them to shut up.”
Next Up:
The Golden Eagles (25-6, 17-3) will head off to New York City as the No. 1 seed in the Big East Tournament. Marquette will take on the winner of Butler vs St. John’s March 9 from Madison Square Garden at 11 a.m. CST.
This article was written by Jackson Gross. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JacksonGrossMU.
