Winning With a Very Thin Margin of Error in Parallel, Is Marquette Still on Track to Win the Big East?

The winning battle of March Madness doesn’t seem so far away with only a month in between, however, teams also need to win the conference titles as one of the milestones in their path to becoming the national champions. Taking this perspective into consideration, let’s look if the #11 Marquette Golden Eagles have it all to win the Big East title.

Several media outlets are already predicting the Eagles to be the top team. However, there is still a need to address their weak points to establish some clarity on their path forward.

The Marquette Golden Eagles playing on the edge

The Golden Eagles are having a challenging time this season. According to the evaluations noted on 8th January, Marquette was reigning at #11 in the Top 25 poll of the Associated Press, however, their two consecutive losses dropped them 6 places down at #17. Now, this may seem wild but that’s how things have become competitive with the finals approaching simultaneously. Every team is facing silent jitters of anticipation, keeping them from staying focused on their game.

Marquette indeed is playing in a competitive environment. For it, every game counts for them to gain on their rankings. Significant to that, currently they have a standing record at 11-5, placing them at 6th rank in the Big East. Notably, at this point on, the Golden Eagles cannot afford any more losses if they wish to maintain their stance in the conference. Emphasis on possible loss, can include several things, for example, the strength of the competition, the performance of their key players, sudden injuries, and other team dynamics.

In short, they have to stick together to make it through. Their overall record stands at 12-5 and 3-3 in the Big East. However, their recent 87-74 win against Villanova has significantly elevated their stance in the conference. This matchup has caught a lot of attention from sports analysts as it has proven to be a significant turning point for the Golden Eagles.

Ex-NBA star Jerel McNeal says, “They hit a little bit of a low point throughout the course of a season but uh you know they had they bounced back with a really big game tonight and it was uh, to be honest, it kind of felt a little bit like a must-win game.”

Talking about Marquette’s guard Tyler Kolek, McNeal adds, “TK uh got off to a little bit of a slow start uh finished great had a hell of a stat line at the end man but for me uh I still felt like he kind of he was a little bit uh a little bit out of it early on at least offensively shooting wise just scoring the ball wise but everything else was on point.” 

In this game, Tyler Kolek scored 21 points, 5 rebounds, 11 assists, and 2 steals. Also, he shot with a field goal percentage of 50%, including 20% of 3-point shots and 100% of free throws.

Moving on McNeal praised other players on Marquette’s roster for their gameplay skills, “major shout out to Kam Jones and Oso Ighodaro. I thought those guys carried us uh you know pretty much start to finish as well man so those guys played great uh they were able to put together a couple of runs there in the second half and kind of put the game out of reach, and uh you know just for Marquette Nation it’s apparently the sky isn’t falling uh you know we were able to get back on track here get a big win versus Villanova.  just a really good all-around team team win and uh they were they were pretty impressive on the defensive end as well.”

Delivering an impressive performance, Kam Jones scored 22 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal. He was shooting with a field goal percentage of 83.3%, including 50% of 3-point shots. Similarly, Oso Ighodaro scored 18 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Moreover, he shot with a field goal percentage of 81%.

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How so ever may the last two weeks have been for Marquette, this win against its conference rival Villanova says a lot about how the Golden Eagles are evolving as a team. Now, let’s see how its players have been performing this season.

Marquette’s player power

Some notable players on Marquette’s roster are Tyler Kolek, Kam Jones, Oso Ighodaro, and Chase Ross. Notably, junior guard Kam Jones has been averaging 14.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. Also, he has been shooting with a field-goal percentage of 43%.

Similarly, Tyler Kolek has been averaging 13.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 6.4 assists per game, shooting with a field goal percentage of 47.9%. Next in line is Marquette’s forward Oso Ighodaro whose scoring power is reflected in his average of 13.5 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. He has been shooting with a field goal percentage of an impressive 60.2%. Further, it’s the team’s guard Chase Ross who has averaged a budding 6.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 0.7 assists. He has been shooting with a field goal percentage of 40.3%.

However, winning also depends on the guidance the players get from their coach, taking head coach Shaka Smart into the picture. Recently, Smart made waves on the internet with his defensive calisthenics in an ongoing game. However, there is more to this seemingly hilarious coach. Under his guidance, the Golden Eagles opened this season with their highest ranking in decades.

Moreover, with Smart’s guidance, Tyler Kolek has effectively stood out, leading the Big East with an average of 7.9 assists per game, eventually earning the Big East’s Player of the Year award.

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With these impressive prospects alongside on the roster and despite their setbacks so far, Marquette does seem to be on track to bag the Big East title.