Marquette Basketball: Joseph Chartouny answers the call for Golden Eagles

Despite a sluggish start, a Joseph Chartouny-fueled second-half run led Marquette Basketball to a 74-55 home win over Presbyterian.

A mid-November home game against Presbyterian (3-2) might not seem like a season-changing moment for a team with conference championship aspirations, but that’s exactly what Saturday’s showing became for no. 24 Marquette (3-1).

After suffering a discouraging 96-73 loss at Indiana on Wednesday, the Golden Eagles’ sloppy start against the Blue Hose on Saturday – which eventually leaked into the second half as well – quieted the Fiserv Forum faithful and threatened to put an early kibosh on a promising season. Marquette missed its first 12 three-pointers of the afternoon, turned it over 16 times, and struggled to find an offensive flow against a program that finished 4-14 in the Big South last season. With less than 13 minutes in the game, Presbyterian actually held a six-point lead.

From there though, the Golden Eagles completely flipped the switch and outscored the Blue Hose 37-12 until the final horn. Hitting open three-pointers – including eight of their last nine attempts – is not unfamiliar terrain for MU, but the offensive breakthrough was surprisingly led by grad transfer Joseph Chartouny, one of the program’s biggest offseason acquisitions.

Chartouny struggled to find his footing through three games with the Golden Eagles, missing all five of his shots from the field along with four assists to five turnovers. Yes, his minutes were significantly down from his days as a Ram, but his non-existent offensive output was confounding after he averaged 11.9 points and 5.2 assists during his three seasons at Fordham. He refused to take open shots and appeared content to merely swing the ball around the perimeter. Chartouny remained passive through the majority of Saturday’s matchup; in one first-half instance, he alarmingly eschewed an unguarded corner three for a useless touch pass inside to a contested post battle. Defenders were giving him acres of room, and he seemed incapable of doing anything to change that.

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Marquette features a more diverse offense than it did in 2017-18, but the Golden Eagles are a tad short on ball handlers to start the year after Greg Elliott’s injury. MU desperately needs Chartouny to be a playmaker, something that has become even more evident following Markus Howard’s continued ball-security issues (11 turnovers over his last two games, including seven against Presbyterian).

That need finally clicked with Chartouny once Presbyterian pushed Marquette to the brink on Saturday. Over the final 13 minutes, the Montreal native was involved in nearly every play down the floor. He splashed a pair of three pointers; he finished off a couple pump-fake drives at the rim; he probed the Presbyterian defense on the pick-and-roll with mastery; he pushed the fast break; he even tossed some post entry passes to Theo John who took the ball to the basket or kicked out for an open three. Chartouny finished the night with 16 points on 6-7 shooting with five assists and five rebounds, and looked more comfortable with his new teammates than at any other point this season.

The Golden Eagles’ offense has always functioned more efficiently with Howard playing off the ball, something that was not happening to start the season as Chartouny provided nearly the same amount of offense as the Al McGuire statue in the titular on-campus arena. But if Chartouny’s second-half surge is for real, head coach Steve Wojciechowski will finally be able to settle on a crunch-time offensive lineup. Defense will always be an issue for the Golden Eagles – more minutes for Chartouny should help in that regard as well – but Marquette also wasn’t showing any of the same offensive firepower that it possessed across the previous two campaigns.

Now a solid individual showing against Presbyterian does not make a season, especially with no. 2 Kansas looming on the horizon. But a confident Chartouny should send ripples throughout the roster; Sam Hauser exploded for 15 quick points during Marquette’s closing run with better guard play and Howard should find some easier looks if opponents are forced to account for his backcourt mate. And if those two stars can find improved opportunities, it only opens up better shots for John, Joey Hauser, Sacar Anim, and Jamal Cain.

Chartouny’s teammates certainly understood his massive impact in the moment. After his second made three-pointer pushed MU’s lead to nine and forced Presbyterian to burn a timeout, the Marquette bench swarmed the veteran guard at mid-court as if he had just nailed a game-winner.

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Chartouny isn’t the best player on Marquette, but he could be the key to unlocking a contender. We’ll find out very soon if the Golden Eagles can use this unshackled Chartouny performance as a springboard; Marquette heads to Brooklyn this week for the NIT Tip-Off against the aforementioned Jayhawks, with a second matchup against either Tennessee or Louisville to follow.

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