Marquette Basketball: Takeaways from 2023-24 regular season results

What Have You Done for Me Lately? 

It took until February 17th to see #1 UConn on the schedule. With one of the most complete and talented rosters in the country, the Huskies would have their way with #4 Marquette, quickly evaporating the excitement around the highly anticipated top-5 matchup. UConn was able to hold Marquette to just 36% shooting and shut down Tyler Kolek to just 7 points and 3 assists, both season lows. Marquette would take notes and bounce back yet again, winning their next three games, but it wouldn't come without another key injury. This time it was their All-American guard, Tyler Kolek. Kolek strained his oblique on a standard overhead pass in the second half of their game against Providence, and we have yet to see his return. Kolek would miss the road loss to Creighton to even the season series before he was announced to miss the remainder of the regular season. 

Moving on without their star and back in the top-10 at #8, Marquette would return to Fiserv Forum for the final home game of the season and the always-special senior night, a night that would honor Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro and their fantastic Marquette careers. Unfortunately, the Golden Eagles drew UConn for their final home game, and after a valiant shorthanded effort in front of a sellout crowd, they would fall by just 7 points to the Huskies. Marquette closed out the season this past Saturday with an 86-80 road win over Xavier, finishing the season at 23-8 overall and third in the Big East behind UConn and Creighton at 14-6.

Marquette didn't win the conference. Although the goal that was set at that open practice back in October didn't come to fruition, the Golden Eagles could end up being a better team this postseason because of the injuries and hurdles they have had to overcome. They still miss Sean Jones, and the health of Tyler Kolek still remains a question mark heading into this week’s Big East Conference Tournament at Madison Square Garden, but the way the season played out has allowed others to step up. Oso Ighodaro has become a skilled big-man with first-round draft potential. Ben Gold has expanded his game with aggressiveness to pair with outside shooting. Kam Jones proved that he can put the scoring on his shoulders. David Joplin has developed a mid-range game, and freshmen Tre Norman and Zaide Lowery have grown their skills to be able to step in and play important minutes. Shaka’s “team culture” focus continues to pay dividends with a Marquette team that always plays together. 

The Marquette season was ripe with huge wins and tough losses, which is the very thing you want your battle-tested team to have gone through come tournament time. 

Statistics & Awards

Team Overall

• 23-8 Overall Record
• 14-6 Big East Record (3rd)
• 14-2 Home/7-5 Away/2-1 Neutral
• #10 Final AP Poll Ranking
• #13 Net Ranking
• #18 RPI
• 8 Quad-1 wins (8-7 overall)
• 79.2 points per game
• 69.8 points allowed per game

Individual Leaders

Points per game

• Kam Jones: 16.7
• Tyler Kolek: 15.0
• Oso Ighodaro: 14.4

Rebounds per game

• Oso Ighodaro: 7.2
• Tyler Kolek: 4.7
• Stevie Mitchell: 4.0

Assists per game

• Tyler Kolek: 7.6 (led nation)
• Oso Ighodaro: 2.8
• Kam Jones: 2.3

Awards

• 2023-24 Wooden Award finalist: Tyler Kolek
• All-Big East First Team: Tyler Kolek
• All-Big East Second Team: Oso Ighodaro