Marquette spent the entire season in the Top 25, used the same starting five for all 33 games, and will journey to Cleveland for the first round of the NCAA Tournament with the same goal the team had in October: End the season in San Antonio to prolong the end of the season as long as possible.
The Golden Eagles (23-10) are the No. 7 seed in the South Region and will open Friday night against No. 10 seed New Mexico (26-7) in a showdown with star power.
Marquette guard Stevie Mitchell is one of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award and expects the assignment of Donovan Dent, the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year. Dent ranks in the top 15 nationally in scoring (20.6 points per game) and assists (6.4).
“We’ll get down into the nitty-gritty in terms of this could be our last time putting on a Marquette jersey when the game gets a little closer,” Mitchell said.
The Golden Eagles are packed with experience, led by their own offensive star in Kam Jones. He will take the court for the 137th time and averaged 19.3 points, 5.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds and earned second-team All-American honors.
And David Joplin, who completes Marquette’s “Guardians,” is the other senior with more than 134 college games under his belt.
All three came to Milwaukee to play for coach Shaka Smart and experience the NCAA Tournament. They’ve played six games in three years and will make their fourth consecutive tourney appearance this week.
“I gave them a homework assignment when we got back (from the Big East tournament),” Smart said. “I said I want you to determine the probability of a player or a team going to four straight NCAA Tournaments.”
“Having been through the twists and turns of the NCAA Tournament, I think both the wins we have had and also the losses we’ve had — six games in the last three seasons for our seniors — have taught us a lot of lessons,” Smart said. “Taught those guys a lot of lessons.”
Marquette values defense and possessions, whereas the Lobos want to pull the pin and let it fly. The ace up Mountain West Coach of the Year Richard Pitino’s sleeve early in the week could be his father, Rick Pitino, the active wins leader in men’s basketball with 884. The St. John’s head coach eliminated Marquette from the Big East tournament last weekend and played the Golden Eagles three times this season.
“He texted me right when it happened (on Selection Sunday), the scouting report. I’m like, relax. I don’t need that right now,” Richard Pitino said.
Sometimes parents know best. In this case, dad was 3-0 against Marquette this season with wins by six, two and 16.
Richard Pitino knows from watching each installment of the Marquette-St. John’s series this season the Golden Eagles don’t turn the ball over. Jones, a sturdy 6-foot-5 guard with range, is among the best in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio. Jones had 32 points in his final home game earlier this month, an overtime loss to St. John’s.
As a team, Marquette ranks 30th in Division I with a 1.49 assist-to-turnover ratio. Dent averaged just under three turnovers per game but also accounted for more than 30 percent of the Lobos’ total offense with 680 points and 212 assists this season.
The winner of Friday’s game likely will have a date with coach Tom Izzo and No. 2 seed Michigan State on Sunday in the second round.
In 2023, the then-seventh-seeded Spartans eliminated No. 2 Marquette in the second round, 69-60.
–Field Level Media
