Golden Eagles clinch share of league title
Marquette is going to need to purchase a new banner for its men’s basketball team to hang in the rafters at Fiserv Forum.
The Golden Eagles checked off a big goal on Saturday night by beating DePaul, 90-84, to clinch at least a share of the Big East title in front of 17,783 fans – the most ever to see a MU game at Fiserv.
But the celebration was muted afterward. There was no net-cutting or a crowd singalong to Queen’s “We Are the Champions.” Perhaps it was because of an ugly second-half in which the Blue Demons (920, 3-15 Big East) whittled a 21-point deficit down to four in the final minute. Or it could be because the Golden Eagles (23-6, 15-3) have their sights set on something bigger.
“I told the guys in the locker room it’s fine to have mixed emotions,” MU head coach Shaka Smart said. “It’s good to have mixed emotions.
“There should be some powerful, positive emotions from clinching at least a share of the Big East and winning more Big East games than have been won at Marquette.
“Then the other emotion is ... after you play a game, you don’t have to say anything. Just the way that you feel as a player or as a coach, you know if it was an A game, a B game, a C game. And so if you have expectations and a high standard, you want to improve on that if it wasn’t your best.”
The current banner that resides high above the Fiserv court lists all the conference titles the program has won – 1994 in the Great Midwest, the 1997 Conference USA tournament championship, 2003 in Conference USA and the last one a decade ago with the 2013 Big East. But there isn’t any room to add another, so there will have to be a replacement.
MU can make it an outright conference title by winning at Butler on Tuesday night.
“You can ask us when we win it outright,” MU guard Tyler Kolek said. “The locker room will be a little different.”
The Golden Eagles looked like they were going to roll in the first half, with sophomore guard Kam Jones nailing 3 three-pointers as MU sprinted to an 11-6 lead. On his 21st birthday, he tied his college high of 5 triples with several minutes to go in the first half.
“When I see ’em go in, I’m like, alright, yup,” Jones said. “That’s pretty much all that happened. Kept shooting.”
As the seconds ticked down at the end of the first half, Jones then let loose an high-arcing attempt from long distance and strutted to the locker room after it settled into the net to give MU a 49-28 lead at the break.
Jones added another triple and a free throw in the second half to finish with 22 points. Thanks to Jones’ hot hand, the Golden Eagles shot 11 for 21 from long distance in the first half.
“When he starts bombing ’em in, I just start laughing,” said Kolek, who had 11 assists in the opening 20 minutes. “He’s one of the best shooters I’ve ever seen. One of my favorite guys to play with. So when I find him and he bombs it in, it’s fun for everybody.”
It was a different game in the second half. Smart was unhappy with his starters, substituting four reserves in after a few minutes.
“The mindset comes first,” Smart said. “And what comes after the mindset is either the appropriate violence or multiple efforts and energy or below the line.
“And I thought, for most of the second half on defense we were below the line in those areas. There was a play when one of their guys caught the ball a little above the foul line and he just drove it aggressively, put his head down and got all the way to the basket. Not acceptable.”
Lots of whistles, with MU center Oso Ighodaro playing only 18 total minutes because of foul trouble, and choppy play bogged down the second half.
Frustration boiled over when Smart got a technical foul for arguing with an official.
Kolek finished with 22 points and 14 assists. MU’s 11-for-26 shooting in the second half limited his chances to chase Tony Miller’s program record of 17 assists.
When the game tightened up down the stretch, the ball was in Kolek’s hands. He scored 15 of the Golden Eagles’ last 16 points and, after his clutch performance against Creighton earlier this week, should have a firm grip on Big East player of the year.
“Just experiences,” Kolek said. “Everything in life is experiences. I’ve gone through these games long enough now. I mean, it’s my third year in college so I’ve pretty much seen whatever you can see at this point.
“Just trying to stay poised. Keep my guys together and go from there.”