Jones has happy birthday with 2nd straight 34-point game in No. 7 Marquette's 88-64 rout of Xavier

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kam Jones has a hard time explaining the reason behind his recent surge.

It's been even tougher for Big East opponents to figure out how to guard him lately.

Jones celebrated his 22nd birthday by scoring 34 points for a second straight game and No. 7 Marquette trounced slumping Xavier 88-64 on Sunday. Over his last two games, Jones has shot 23 of 32 from the floor and 14 of 20 from beyond the arc.

“I wouldn’t say anything’s flipped,” Jones said. “I’m just being aggressive. That’s my mindset every game. Go out and be aggressive. Don’t overthink.”

Marquette coach Shaka Smart believes he knows what has enabled Jones to step up his performance these last few days.

“He's present,” Smart said. “It sounds really oversimplified, but you can't be good when you're in the past or in the future mentally. When you are here in the moment, and the ball comes to you, and you can shoot the ball like him, or attack and finish around the basket like him, then great things are going to happen. So you might say why isn't he present all the time. Well, that's what we're working on.”

Jones shot 11 of 17 overall and 6 of 10 on 3-point attempts Sunday to match the careerbest scoring total he had produced Wednesday in a 105-71 blowout of DePaul. This was his third game with 30-plus points this month, as Jones also scored 31 points in a 91-57 victory at Georgetown on Feb. 3.

He's making a habit of performing well on his birthday. The day he turned 21, Jones scored 22 points in a 90-84 victory over DePaul.

Marquette (21-6, 12-4 Big East) had reason to be in a festive mood after winning for the 10th time in 11 games.

Tyler Kolek had 11 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds for the Golden Eagles. Oso Ighodaro had 12 points and David Joplin got 10.