CHICAGO – David Joplin loves playing in Wintrust Arena.

The senior notched a career-high 30 points on 9-of-17 shooting, including tallying 5-of-11 from beyond the arc.

“It feels good to shoot in here,” Joplin said. “The hotel’s great. I love playing here and this is my last time, so I wanted to make it a good one.”

That night’s sleep in the Windy City the last three years has him averaging 26.3 points-per-game with 21 made three-pointers the next day in Wintrust Arena, including seven on Tuesday evening.

“He loves the rims here,” head coach Shaka Smart said. “They’re [DePaul] playing zone defense. We’re going to be able to play five on four against any team that sticks their biggest guy at the basket. We’re going to get threes, and he is going to get threes.”

In a game that was a kaleidoscope of emotions for all involved, the No. 7 Marquette Golden Eagles (15-2, 6-0 Big East) outlasted the DePaul Blue Demons (9-9, 0-7 Big East) in an overtime thriller, 85-83.

Here are three takeaways from the road victory:

Buried bench

For the first time this season, Marquette had no bench scoring production. Combined, the secondary rotation shot 0-of-5 from the floor, with the biggest contribution coming from sophomore guard Tre Norman, who grabbed four boards.

“He’s the most mature of the guys coming off the bench in terms of just competitive maturity,” Smart said.

For Marquette to continue its strong start to conference play and make a run into March Madness, the Golden Eagles will need the bench to have the confidence that David Joplin believes will show itself when necessary.

“We just keep trying to instill confidence in them,” Joplin said. “We see how hard they work and it’s just a matter of when that chance comes, and they do it and the floodgates will open for them.”

Throughout this season, the bench has played pivotal roles in games, from the combined 28 points from first-year forwards Royce Parham and Damarius Owens in the loss at #6 Iowa State, or sophomore guard Zaide Lowery’s three triples in the win at Providence.

Re-discovering that confidence will only make Marquette more dangerous down the stretch.

Attacking the zone

Marquette has faced a zone defense more frequently during conference play, and it has proven at times to stymie Marquette’s offense.

Smart recognizes that and says that attacking the zone will continue to be part of the schematics that the Golden Eagles will plan for.

“It comes down to finding ways to exploit the movements of the zone,” Smart said. “Anytime we play a team that’s in zone, it’s pretty predictable where they are going to be. There’s going to be a lot of threes for us, I tell the guys no half shots.”

This won’t be the last time Marquette has to score against a zone defense, so it will be key that it continues to develop a game plan against it.

Kam continues to find a way

“I wouldn’t trade [Kam] for anyone in the world.”

Marquette fans would agree with Shaka Smart.

The senior guard posted his fourth double-double of the season, tallying 18 points on 8-of-21 shooting and 11 assists. He also led the team with six rebounds.

While he missed nine threes, his one connection came at the most important time, cutting DePaul’s lead to one with 45 seconds to go.

Jones is the unquestioned leader of the Golden Eagles, and night-in and night-out he finds ways to beat opponents in different ways. His consistency will take Marquette places the remainder of the regular season and in March.

This story was written by Trevor Hilson. He can be reached at [email protected] or @hilsontrevor on Twitter/X.