Sophomore guard Zaide Lowery’s consistent defensive presence off the bench is aided by his background as a wide receiver on the gridiron during his high school years.
Before transferring to La Lumiere School in Indiana to focus on basketball, he played receiver during his first three years of high school at Kickapoo High School in Springfield, Missouri. Football was Lowery’s first love, and the skills he utilized as a receiver have come up big as one of Marquette’s leading rebounders under Shaka Smart’s watch, as a key spark off the bench.
Lowery said that the skills and muscle memory from running routes and separating from defensive backs have helped him come up with tough plays on the hardwood.
“[Thursday], there was one where I had to ‘get open’ basically, I had to get ‘the phone’, sometimes I struggle with that,” Lowery said. “So, just being able to go up and remember my skills and football; just bringing it over to the door, to just go up and get a ball so we can get into our action off the side.”
In Marquette’s comeback win in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals against Xavier on Thursday, Lowery led Marquette with six rebounds and chipped in three assists. He and first-year forward Royce Parham, who lead the bench in rebounds per game, gave the Golden Eagles’ starters a lift by maintaining a consistent tempo, no matter who was in the lineup.
“I think giving our older guys a break, they’ve been going all-out, and every time we come in the game, the best guys never want to let the energy go down,” Lowery said. “I think that’s the biggest thing with us is just to give them a little break, and when they can come back in the game, so they’d be the freshest players.”
With Marquette set to lose Kam Jones, Stevie Mitchell and David Joplin at the conclusion of the season, Lowery has positioned himself to be a prime candidate to step into a starting role next season through his rebounding and scoring production off the bench. The 6-foot-5 guard is averaging just south of three rebounds per game, and a had career high 25 points (including five 3-pointers) against Villanova on Feb. 21.
ZAIDE LOWERY CAREER HIGH
25 points
-9/10 FG
-5/5 3PT#MUBB | #WeAreMarquette pic.twitter.com/t5HTqtnKp6— ESPN Milwaukee (@ESPNMilwaukee) February 22, 2025
Lowery sees rebounding as his role within the team as Marquette takes the next steps in postseason play.
“The biggest thing with that is being able to box them out, being more physical, rebound inside, and there were some games that we struggled with it, my job is to come in, play defense, rebound and be ready to shoot as time goes on,” Lowery said. “I think that would be another big key that we need really to have more of in our game. If I can, I’m going to lead the way in that again.”
Despite his contributions not always showing up in the box score, Lowery’s defensive prowess and presence on the boards could go a long way in positively affecting Marquette’s chances of continuing to win in March.
This article was written by Mikey Severson. He can be reached at michael.severson@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @MikeySeversonMU.
