NCAA Basketball: Buy or Sell Duke, Kentucky, Purdue, Villanova, and UConn?

Marquette Golden Eagles

There were some rivalry games in the Midwest this past week, including Marquette trying to get revenge on Wisconsin for last year’s loss at home. This one was in Madison and the Badgers were in full control throughout, winning 75-64. Although Wisconsin’s not ranked, they’ve looked very impressive in the past couple of weeks and should be a contender in the Big Ten.

For Marquette, it wasn’t the worst effort in the world but there were some signs of concern. Guard Kameron Jones was the best player, scoring a team-high 19 pts on 7/12 shooting. Guard Tyler Kolek was the only other double-digit scorer with 11 pts, while big man Oso Ighodaro struggled against the Badgers frontcourt, having 5 pts and 4 TOs.

The other issue has been David Joplin. He was supposed to be another scoring threat that could space the floor and be a clear go-to option. Yet he produced 9 pts on 3/13 shooting, including 1/9 from three-point range. If Ben Gold doesn’t make shots off the bench then all of the pressure comes on Jones to be a 15+ ppg scorer to keep them in the games on the road.

For now, I’m still believing in Kolek and Jones to have Marquette in contention. But unless Joplin becomes more consistent on offense, then they’re going to miss not having Olivier Maxence-Prosper in the frontcourt. The next couple of big games will be telling for how much we can expect from Joplin.

Buy… for now