After a rousing 82-63 win on Friday at the students-only game at the Al McGuire Center on campus, Marquette(2-0) welcomed the Central Michigan Chippewas(1-1) into Fiserv Forum on Monday night to finish off a three-game homestand to open the season. Marquette moved up three spots in Monday’s AP Poll to #15, and were eager to show why they made the jump into the top 15.
Defense was the theme of the night, and the Golden Eagles established the chaos from the opening tip. Marquette forced five Central Michigan turnovers before the first media timeout, playing their patented three-quarters press and closing passing lanes in the half court. Despite shooting just 22% from the field and 0-5 from three to start the game, Marquette pressured their way into stops and forced Central Michigan into empty possessions.
The late 8pm tip-off got even later as both teams racked up fouls early on. Eleven total fouls were committed in the first ten minutes, and Marquette’s cold shooting led to most of their points coming from the free-throw line. The pace would change, however, when Marquette went on a 21-0 run coming out of a tie game to go up 36-15 late in the half. Shaka Smart’s deflection-tracking set a Marquette record for a half in the Shaka era, racking up an unbelievable 44 deflections in the first half(32 total deflections is the goal per game). This led to 16 forced turnovers, 22 fast-break points, and a 15-point halftime lead.
Central Michigan clawed their way back in the second half, thanks to more misses from the field for Marquette and foul trouble from their leading scorer, Kam Jones. With Jones off the floor, the Golden Eagles continued to do a good job of creating shots, they just weren’t hitting them. David Joplin, typically another high-scoring source, would end up going 0-11 from the field and 0-10 from 3pt. A night to forget for Joplin led to double-digit scoring from four Marquette players.
Central Michigan would cut the lead down to six with four minutes left, but Marquette kept the Chippewas at bay to close out a 70-62 win and move to 3-0 on the season.
A game to grow from for Marquette early in the season, the Golden Eagles shot just 36% from the field and 28% from 3pt, but set a single-game record for defensive deflections with a whopping 65. They forced 26 turnovers that turned into 33 points, but were crushed on the boards 46-27. This is what the early season is for, to create consistency and improve in areas to play a complete game, and Marquette will have to react quickly as the schedule strengthens with back-to-back Big Ten matchups ahead in Maryland and Purdue.
Knuckleball Prime Time Player of the Game
Next up: Marquette hits the road for the first time this season when they head to College Park on Friday to take on Maryland. Tip-off is at 7pm CST on FS1.
The Barn 