Golden Eagles continue to soar along
MU beats another ranked foe as win streak hits six
The Marquette men’s basketball team is demanding to be noticed.
The 14,658 fans who packed into Fiserv Forum on Sunday afternoon certainly have a good idea how good the Golden Eagles are after seeing them pull away for a 75-64 victory over Xavier.
That makes six straight wins for MU (14-6, 6-3 Big East), including the last three over ranked foes with the Musketeers (14-4, 4-3 Big East) at No. 20 in both polls. Add in a victory over Providence that kicked off the streak and another over Illinois on Nov. 15 and the Golden Eagles have beaten five ranked opponents this season, the most in college basketball.
With their winning streak, the Golden Eagles are likely to enter the top 25 polls themselves on Monday.
It’s hard to remember that, before this hot stretch, MU dropped four straight, including its first three conference games.
“The goal coming into the school year, we talked about this at the end of the summer, is we want to grow as much or more than any team in the country,” MU head coach Shaka Smart said. “It’s easier to say that. You have to go through the experiences of putting in the work and stay connected enough to do that.
“And it’s not always a linear path. It’s not just up, up, up. Sometimes there’s some setbacks. And, in fact, the setbacks allow you to grow more. So I think losing four in a row, we got humbled by UCLA and then we had three conference games where we were in position to win the game late in the game and we didn’t.
“So I think what you take out of that as a team is we can win. We can find ways to win those games but we have got to be a little bit better in a variety of areas and I think we’ve continued to get better. But, again, you look at these last few games, we can’t take for granted that it doesn’t go the other way if a few plays don’t go differently.”
One of those early league losses came against Xavier on Dec. 18.
This time, the Golden Eagles locked in on defense after Xavier came out hot in the second half by making its first six shots. After that, the Musketeers shot 5 for 26 as MU closed by getting stops just like it did in Wednesday’s victory at Villanova.
The Musketeers took the lead at 5348 on a three-pointer by Jack Nunge with 14:05 remaining. Darryl Morsell quickly erased the deficit with five straight points, then Greg Elliott gave the Golden Eagles the lead for good with a three-pointer.
“I think we kind of just got back to being us,” MU freshman guard Stevie Mitchell said. “Coach Smart just says the only way you’re going to lose the game in the second half is if we got frustrated and let that get the best of us.
“Even if we did get frustrated, we were able to respond. And just keep playing hard. Keep playing together. Keep taking the shots we wanted to take. And just kept defending as a team. So just always going back to who we are as a team.”
Mitchell played 16 minutes after seeing the court for eight over the previous two games. He did the dirty work with two steals and five rebounds while also helping provide stout, one-on-one defense on fifth-year Xavier guard Paul Scruggs (13 points on 5-for-9 shooting).
Justin Lewis led MU with 20 points and 13 rebounds, his confidence continuing to sky-rocket after hitting the winning three-pointer against Villanova. He finished 4 for 7 from long range against Xavier.
“It’s kind of a chicken-and-an-egg thing,” Smart said. “In that, we always as coaches encourage these guys to start with defensive rebounding because that’s the end that you can control.
“But these guys are human beings. When you make a three, when you make a shot, when you make a few shots, it does energize you. Justin, I really appreciate the fact that he started the game with an emphasis on rebounding and going to grab the ball.”
Morsell added 19 points and freshman guard Kam Jones was a microwave scorer off the bench with 12 points.
Jones, never shy about getting shots up, knocked in the dagger with a deep three that gave MU a 73-62 lead with 38 seconds left.
“All the work I put in, all the work I put in with my teammates,” Jones said about where his confidence comes from. “I know my teammates trust me to make my shots, so that boosts my confidence always. Knowing that every time I shoot my teammates and myself, we all think it’s going in.”
The Golden Eagles are rolling, but the tough schedule keeps coming with games at Seton Hall and Providence this week.
“I appreciate that about our guys,” Smart said. “They haven’t really wanted it to be easy. And that’s a mark of highcharacter people.
“Because if you want to win in a league like this or as you move later and later into the season, you got to be willing to get past hard.”