NCAA Basketball: Arizona, Baylor, and BYU rise in latest top 25 power rankings
By Joey Loose
8. Marquette (22-7)
When they’re all out on the court, the talent at Marquette is among the finest in the nation. Coming into this week, the Golden Eagles had won ten of their last eleven, with the lone loss being a toughie at UConn. The Golden Eagles have asserted themselves as one of the best teams in the nation with their play against the Big East even after a rough start.
That continued on Wednesday, as Marquette would win 91-69 at home over Providence with one of their finest offensive performances of the season. Kam Jones led the charge with 17 points as the Golden Eagles shot 54% from outside the arc. Saturday posed a significant challenge and Marquette would lose 89-75 at Creighton without stars Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro in the lineup. Jones had 23 points while David Joplin added 21 in the loss.
They hung with Creighton for most of that game even without two of their best players, though we’re not exactly dealing with what-ifs. Marquette is one of the best teams in the country when the entire lineup is intact. We’ve seen that throughout the season and we’ll hope to see a healthy Golden Eagles squad at the Big East Tournament in two weeks. For now, the regular season finishes with a rematch against the Huskies before heading to Xavier; hopefully Kolek and Ighodaro return.