Just like in Newark, it was all Seton Hall in the first half despite Marquette coming out of it with a one point lead, 30-29.

But just as he had in his previous game, junior forward David Joplin opened up the second half by draining a 3-pointer, kicking off a 15-4 run and giving the Golden Eagles new life.

Later in the half, Joplin earned a deflection and high-fived head coach Shaka Smart after the play. In the next possession, Gold blocked a shot and tipped it back to Kolek who passed it up to Joplin as he earned the AND-one in transition to give Marquette its largest lead at the time.

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— Marquette Basketball (@MarquetteMBB) January 27, 2024

“We always say, ‘(We’re) just two kids from the state of Wisconsin, getting a chance to live out our dreams,'” Smart said. “It’s been good to see Jop take on an added aggressiveness with the injuries that we’ve had. Jop is a guy that when he’s aggressive and he has a clarity about him, he’s tough to deal with on the offensive end. He had that today.”

Behind Joplin’s energy and their second half efforts, the No. 14 Golden Eagles (15-5, 6-3 Big East) took down the Seton Hall Pirates (13-8, 6-4 Big East) 75-57 Saturday afternoon at Fiserv Forum.

“It was a fun game,” Smart said. “Unbelievable atmosphere. Thank you as always to our fans … (I’m) just grateful for the ways that our guys responded. It’s been a challenging stretch for us … But (I’m) really proud of the way the guys responded today to a tough start and just continued to fight.”

Flipping the switch, depth a defining factor

During the early second half 15-4 extended run, the Golden Eagles shot 66.6% from the floor and 75% from deep as four players found their way onto the stat sheet.

Later in the half, the Golden Eagles went on an 8-0 scoring streak with contributions from three different players. This put them ahead 61-45 with 7:24 left to play.

Seton Hall was unable to mount a comeback and Marquette found a way to win without Chase Ross, Sean Jones and Kam Jones, and with Tyler Kolek not scoring until the final two minutes.

“It mainly shows how much we can all impact the game without scoring and without even being on the court,” junior guard Stevie Mitchell said. “Kam’s energy was great. Chase’s energy was great. Sean’s energy’s been great. We really feed off that and we don’t ignore the significance it has.”

In the second half, the Golden Eagles outscored the Pirates 45-28, shooting 61.3% and 50% from beyond the arc.

Statistical leaders 

Senior forward Oso Ighodaro earned 21 points and seven rebounds for the Golden Eagles, while Joplin finished with 20 points going 3-for-8 from deep. Mitchell also recorded 13 points and earned a team-high five steals in 36 minutes of action.

Ighodaro has now scored 10+ points in 10 of his last 11 games, and Joplin has scored a total of 54 points in his last three games.

Seton Hall — who was without its leading scorer Kadary Richmond — was led by graduate student center Jaden Bediako, who scored 18 points while going 6-for-8 from the field. 

Injury updates

Although junior guard Kam Jones started, he scored three points and played just five minutes before sitting out the rest of the contest. 

Smart said that Jones had tweaked his ankle in practice the day before after landing on another player’s foot and is unsure when he will return to the court.

“Kam actually was crazy enough (that) he wanted to try and go…” Smart said. “We’ll work around the clock to get that ankle back where it needs to be and hopefully he can get back out there real soon.”

Sophomore guard Chase Ross suffered a shoulder injury in the loss to Seton Hall three weeks ago and hasn’t played since. Smart said that he is considered day-to-day and has not been cleared to play with contact yet.

Up next

Marquette travels to Pennsylvania to face Villanova (11-8, 4-4 Big East) Tuesday at 6 p.m. CST. The Golden Eagles recently defeated the Wildcats 87-74 Jan. 15 at Fiserv Forum.

This article was written by Kaylynn Wright. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @KaylynnWrightMU.