No. 5 Marquette (8-0) looks to continue its best start since 2011-12 as it hits the road to take on No. 6 Iowa State (5-1) in the Big 12-Big-East battle.
The two teams have met eight times, with their most recent encounter being 20 years ago, when the Cyclones took the 77-69 win on their home court. This year, they’ll meet again at Hilton Coliseum, where the Cyclones look to end the Golden Eagles’ win streak.
Marquette climbing the rankings
Before the season began, the blue and gold were ranked #18 in the AP Poll. Now, just one month later the Golden Eagles passed Iowa State – previously ranked fifth.
Marquette is coming off a 94-62 win against West Carolina. Kam Jones, — who is ranked second in the Big East and is tied 16th in the nation in assists per game (6.3) — recorded his second-career double-double by netting 20 points and had 10 assists.
But aside from Jones, the younger Golden Eagles proved that they have a say in the scoring. Collectively, the bench recorded a new season-high 37 points on Saturday after blowing past its previous mark of 31 it set against Stonehill earlier in the week. Career-highs were marked for both redshirt freshman forward Caedin Hamilton (9 points) and sophomore guard Zaide Lowery (8 points).
Lowery — who injured his knee late in Saturday’s game — is listed as OUT, per Marquette’s game notes for Iowa State on Wednesday.
A red and gold storm
The Cyclones dropped one spot in the AP Poll due to a loss to No. 4 Auburn at the Maui Invitational, yet came away with two other wins due to their offensive performances in The Aloha State.
On the season, Iowa State is shooting 50 percent from the field compared to Marquette’s 48 percent. The Golden Eagles will have to find a way to maneuver around their returning players.
Senior guard Keshon Gilbert was just named Big 12 Player of the Week and is the team’s top scorer. Gilbert averages 16.5 points per game, but shortly behind him is another player Marquette will have to keep their eye on. Senior guard Curtis Jones has been deadly from beyond the arc in the early part of the season, shooting 40 percent from deep.
While Iowa State pushes their offense, Marquette’s will have to have a tight grip on the ball before Junior guard Tamin Lipsey gets his hands on it. The Ames, Iowa native has recorded 16 steals on the season so far, accounting for 27% of the team’s total.
On the contrary though, Marquette leads the country in steals per game, nabbing an average of 12.4. Whoever takes better care of the basketball Wednesday night should go a long way in determining who walks out of Ames with a statement win on its résumé.
How to follow
Watch: ESPN+ will feature the broadcast, with Rich Hollenberg (play-by-play) and King McClure (analyst) on the call at 7 p.m. CST.
Live updates: Follow @JackAlbrightMU, @MatthewBaltzMU and @MUWireSports on Twitter/X.
This preview was written by Raquel Ruiz. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @RaquelRuizMU.
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