Marquette men’s basketball headed into the halftime break with a four-point lead over Butler, not a sufficient enough advantage for the Golden Eagles on National Marquette Day.
So, they came out of the locker room and began scorching nets.
Royce Parham got the party started with a triple on the first possession of the half to extend the Golden Eagle lead to seven. A few plays later, the ball found Adrien Stevens on the right wing, and he drained one of his six threes on the game. Then, one of Butler’s 16 turnovers allowed Chase Ross to continue the 3-point barrage, hitting one of his four treys on the afternoon.
The Golden Eagles started the 2nd half 5-for-5 from downtown, ballooning their lead up to 17 points before the 13-minute mark of the second half. After going 5-for-17 from long range in the opening 20 minutes, Marquette used 9-of-14 second half 3-point shooting to outscore Butler 38-27 in the final period and walk away with the 70-55 victory.
“It’s easier to shoot a high percentage when the shots are wide open,” Smart said. “But more than anything it’s shooting the ball with approach goals not avoidance goals.”
Marquette did exactly that.
The Golden Eagles’ 14-0 run from late in the first half to early in the second, aided by four triples, was enough to remain comfortably in front of the Bulldogs and win their third-straight home game.
For an eight minute stretch in the final period, 3-pointers were Marquette’s only source of offense. The Golden Eagles scored all six of their field goals from behind the 3-point line, three of which left the hands of the birthday boy Ross.
The senior guard, who was 9-for-46 on threes in Big East play before Saturday, went 4-of-5 from deep — including 4-for-4 in the second half — to score a team-most 19 points. He was one of three Golden Eagles whose 3-point shooting made the Bulldogs suffer the most.
Parham finished 3-of-4 from deep with 12 points, while Stevens scored a career-high 18, dropping all of his points from beyond the arc on an efficient 6-of-9 clip.
“I got to give them credit, my teammates finding me when I’m open,” Stevens said. “They trust me and I trust them.”
Those three Golden Eagles accounted for 13 of the 14 made 3-pointers, and shot a resounding 72% from behind the arc (13-of-18) as a group.
Marquette’s 14 made threes vs. Butler was its highest 3-point output of Big East play, and tied for their highest on the season (Southern). It also marks just the second time this year that the Golden Eagles have had back-to-back games with more than 10 three-pointers made, after raining home 11 at Seton Hall on Jan. 31.
The same team that found themselves barely above 30% from beyond the arc as a team going into the new year, are now shooting 38% from behind the arc in their last five games.
“It’s a testament to all of our guys, particularly our guards,” Smart said. “Creating pretty high quality outside shots.”
Not only did Marquette make a lot of threes, but they also attempted 31 of them, tied for their highest amount of triples attempted in Big East play this season.
“I think our guys are shooting more whole shots and less half shots,” Smart said. “I feel like our guys are doing a better job of shooting the ball to make it.”
This story was written by Lukas Schulze. He can be reached at [email protected] and on twitter @lukasschulzeMU.
