10. Marquette (15-5)
Though they’ve been tripped up a few times this season, it’s largely been business as usual for a Marquette program trying to establish itself as an annual contender in a strong Big East. After winning the league last season, the Golden Eagles got off to something of a slow start at 2-3 in conference play, though this week certainly kept pushing them in the right direction.
Shaka Smart’s squad was on the road again on Wednesday night, delivering in an 86-73 win at DePaul. They got great performances from all over, including 22 points and 7 assists from Tyler Kolek and a 19-point, 12-rebound effort from Oso Ighodaro. Back home over the weekend, Marquette continued their winning ways with a 75-57 win against Seton Hall. Ighodaro led with 21 points and 7 rebounds while David Joplin scored 20 in the win.
Despite that up and down start, the Golden Eagles have now won four straight conference games and sit a desirable 6-3 in league play. Things are going much better in recent weeks for this program, even after that season-ending injury to Sean Jones. This is a talented Marquette program that brought a lot back from last season’s success all while hoping to make their mark in March. Next week features road dates at Villanova and Georgetown and two more road wins would look mighty fine in Milwaukee.