NCAA Basketball: Kansas, Purdue, Marquette, and Tennessee takeaways from Maui Invitational

2nd place – Marquette Golden Eagles

Positive takeaway: Oso Ighodaro one of the top bigs in NCAA Basketball

The Player of the Week for Marquette had to be Ighodaro, who averaged 17 ppg and 6.0 rpg for the team. And it was against three of the best bigs in the country, taking on Adem Bona (UCLA), Hunter Dickinson (Kansas), and Zach Edey (Purdue). He matched them on both ends and his offensive boost looks to be a real thing this season.

When Olivier-Maxence Prosper left this offseason, there were concerns about how the frontcourt would look on both ends. Seeing Ighodaro take another leap is why the Golden Eagles are not only a favorite in the Big East but also a top-5 team nationally.

Negative takeaway: Need more from David Joplin

The player that benefitted from Maxence-Prosper’s departure was Joplin, last season’s Big East 6th Man of the Year and 40+% three-point shooter. He’s gotten more minutes but hasn’t taken his own offensive leap, averaging just 7.8 ppg on 36% shooting from the field.

Joplin did have 19 points in the win over UCLA, including 5/11 from three-point range. But he managed just five points combined against Kansas and Purdue on 2/7 shooting combined. While having Ighodaro provide more offensively is a boost, Joplin is still the main shooting threat on the team and he needs to play well for Marquette to reach its ceiling.