No. 5 Marquette men’s basketball defeated the Rider Broncs 95-65 marking its second straight victory, but the bigger storyline is the injury of senior guard Tyler Kolek.
Here’s what you need to know about the Golden Eagles’ win:
- Big East Preseason Player of the Year Kolek had to be assisted to the locker room with seven minutes left to play after suffering an ankle injury.
- Junior guard Kam Jones led the Golden Eagles in scoring with 23 points, also tallied 4 assists and 4 steals.
- Four Golden Eagles (Jones, Oso Ighodaro, David Joplin and Chase Ross) scored over 10 points.
Losing Kolek
Halfway through the second half, Kolek landed on an opposing player’s foot, resulting in the rolled ankle. He was helped off the court and did not return for the remainder of the game.
“He’ll get treatment,” Marquette head coach Shaka Smart said. “Knowing Tyler, he’s a guy that will find a way to be on the floor when he needs to be on the floor. But we’ll see how his ankle responds over the next couple of days.”
Perimeter Prominence
Joplin fired up the crowd to start the game, firing off a step back jumper and a 3-pointer to propel the Golden Eagles to an initial 7-0 lead.
With just over five minutes left in the first half, Joplin knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to break the game open for Marquette.
Heading into the locker rooms, the Golden Eagles led 49-32, with a 58.3% 3-point shooting percentage.
Jones then opened the final period of play with a 3-pointer to keep the ball rolling and followed it up with another one. Even walk-on Cameron Brown scored a 3-pointer at the end of the game.
The Golden Eagles finished the game 13-for-30 (43.3%) from deep.
This article was written by Mikey Severson. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MikeySeversonMU.
