Marquette Basketball raises banner, routs Northern Illinois in opener

Marquette unveiled their 2022-23 Big East Championship banner at Fiserv Forum on Monday night, accompanied by a ruckus sizzle video on the Jumbotron showcasing the highs of an amazing underdog season. “Those videos on the video board, those are clips from last year…” were the words from 2022-23 AP Coach of the Year Shaka Smart in the postgame presser, humble in celebration, but adamant about the focus on the 2023-24 season. With that focus, the Golden Eagles soared out to an early lead in front of a pulsing crowd and disposed of the visiting Northern Illinois Huskies in the season opener.

Kam Jones came out hot, hitting three 3-pointers and adding an assist, accounting for the first 11 Marquette points. The tone was set from there, and Marquette would end up shooting 61.3% from the field and 58.3% from behind the arc as a team in the first session. Showcasing Marquette’s bench depth, Shaka Smart rotated in 10 different players in the first half as the Golden Eagles showed the ability to create and share the ball, getting assists from seven different players.

The first half also debuted the contributions of freshmen Tre Norman and Zaide Lowery, combining for just under 9 minutes of game time. Shaka’s “kills” and “deflections” defensive focus(a focus so ingrained in Marquette culture that it is tracked on the scoreboard) held the Huskies to just 31.4% shooting and forced 8 turnovers on their way to a 50-28 lead at the break.

“It’s a typical first game in that, you know, we failed to put together 40 minutes of sustained Marquette basketball…”, said Smart postgame. That showed in the second half Monday night, where Marquette played Northern Illinois to an even 42-42 in the second half. Marquette went cold from distance and gave up 20 points in the paint, mostly to the Huskies guards who were able to penetrate the seams of the Marquette defense. However, the Golden Eagles finished strong in the final 10 minutes behind the strength and length of Oso Ighodaro (13/7/2) to put away the Huskies 92-70.

Reigning Big East Player of the Year Tyler Kolek showed his natural ability to read the court and take the big shots that he needs to, finishing with 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Kam Jones led all scorers with 20 points and Oso Ighodaro and Ben Gold shared cleaning the glass duties with 7 rebounds each. The raw energy on both sides of the floor from guards Stevie Mitchell, Chase Ross and Sean Jones just oozes Marquette basketball in early November, making everyone remember how much excitement was had, and how much more there is to come.

On a transitional night in Milwaukee, the Marquette Golden Eagles finally got to share with their fans and students what was a magical 2022-23 season, all wrapped up in a nice, crispy banner. But one thing is clear: the #5 team in the country have their sights set dead ahead, at the Big East, and more.