Big East Basketball: Buy or sell UConn, Marquette, Villanova and Xavier?

Marquette

You can be that the Golden Eagles are elated at what Shaka Smart has done in Milwaukee since arriving last year. After a revival last year, Marquette has played very solidly this season, sitting in the current rankings with just four losses on the year, all of them to teams that were or have been ranked in the Top 25. The Golden Eagles blew out Baylor in late November, nearly toppled Purdue a few weeks earlier, and already sit at 6-1 in this tough Big East.

They lost some legitimate talent from last year, but have seen some familiar faces take that step forward. Kameron Jones (16.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg) is having a fantastic sophomore season while fellow guard Olivier-Maxence Prosper (14.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg) has been vital to this team’s early success. Throw in the play of forwards Oso Ighodaro and David Joplin (both averaging at least 10 points a game) and you have an offense that ranks among the best in the nation. This team scored 96 against Baylor, pound the rock inside brilliantly, and is 2nd in offensive efficiency according to KenPom.

Four close losses, with the only conference loss coming in double overtime at Providence, indicate that this Marquette team has been in all their games and has played great ball. This is coming from a team that didn’t bring back their best players from last season and has seen marvelous steps forward from some of that younger talent. We can’t argue with the results on the court, and it’s hard not to buy into what Smart has done with this program already, perhaps bringing back some of that magic he created at VCU.

Buy