LINKS: Hoyas Hope to Outsmart Shaka and No. 9/10 Marquette on Saturday

Georgetown had a week off to prepare for Kolek, Ighodaro & Co.

On Saturday, February 3, your Georgetown Hoyas are back at home to face off against No. 9/10 Marquette Golden Eagles at Capital One Arena. The game starts at 2 p.m. and you can watch it on FS1 with commentary by Dave Sims and Tarik Turner. Rich Chvotkin, who is in his 50th season as the Voice of the Hoyas, will provide the radio call on The Team 980 locally or on the SiriusXM app nationally. In honor of Breast Cancer Awarness, the Hoyas appear to be wearing pink Jordan Jayson Tatum sneakers.

Shaka Smart appears to have Tyle Kolek, Oso Ighodaro, and the Golden Eagles firing on all cylinders these days.

Links:

No. 9/10 #MUBB Heads To Georgetown Saturday Afternoon | Marquette University Athletics

Marquette owns a 22-14 advantage in the all-time series, with the Golden Eagles claiming wins in 12 of the last 15 outings.

All but two of the series matchups have come since Marquette joined the BIG EAST in 2005-06.

The programs first met during the 1941-42 campaign and the Hoyas were able to claim a 35-34 victory. The next meeting didn’t come until the 1971-72 season and Marquette posted an 88-44 winning decision.

Marquette defeated Georgetown, 81-51, in the first matchup this season on Dec. 22, 2023 at Fiserv Forum. Forward David Joplin led three players in double figures with 20 points and matched a personal best with nine rebounds.

Ighodaro One Of 10 Candidates For Karl Malone Award | Marquette University Athletics

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced the Top 10 candidates for the 2024 Karl Malone Award and Marquette senior Oso Ighodaro is included in the potential honorees.

Named after Class of 2010 Hall of Famer and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Karl Malone, the annual honor, in its 10th year, recognizes the top power forward in Division I men’s college basketball.

No. 9 Marquette takes on Georgetown following Kolek’s 32-point showing | Breaking One

Jayden Epps is averaging 19.1 points and 4.5 assists for the Hoyas. Dontrez Styles is averaging 12.9 points and six rebounds over the last 10 games for Georgetown.

David Joplin averages 2.3 made 3-pointers per game for the Golden Eagles, scoring 10.7 points while shooting 41.0% from beyond the arc. Oso Ighodaro is shooting 59.0% and averaging 15.5 points over the last 10 games for Marquette.

LAST 10 GAMES: Hoyas: 2-8, averaging 68.5 points, 32.2 rebounds, 10.6 assists, 5.5 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 39.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.5 points per game.

Golden Eagles: 7-3, averaging 75.3 points, 33.8 rebounds, 16.6 assists, 9.1 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 45.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.3 points.

Marquette Golden Eagles vs. Georgetown channel; time, TV, streaming | Journal Sentinel

Marquette is in a stretch of six of eight games away from Fiserv Forum. Life on the road continues Saturday for the Golden Eagles (16-5 overall, 7-3 Big East) when they visit struggling Georgetown (8-12, 1-8 Big East).

Marquette’s looking for a fourth straight road victory and its sixth straight win overall.

RECAP: #9 Marquette Men’s Basketball 85, Villanova Wildcats 80 | Anonymous Eagle

That 20 point lead went away. And not in the “yeah, obviously Villanova chipped away at it a little bit” way. I mean in the “they scored 11 straight and 14 of the final 16 points of the first half to make it a single digit margin at halftime. I mean in the “the Wildcats ran off 14 straight early in the second half, including six from Justin Moore thanks to a foul on a rare made three for the super senior.”

13:11 left to go, Villanova led by four, 51-47, in a game that Marquette led 37-17. 34-10 run in just under 12 minutes of game time. Honestly, it looked like Marquette thought the game ended when they went up 20 and they didn’t have to hammer down all 40 minutes to get the victory. Things were shaaaaaaaaaky as hell, to say the least, as Marquette did not have Kam Jones available due to an ankle injury and Tre Norman left the game after an inadvertent knee strike to his head in the first half. Chase Ross made his return after suffering a shoulder injury though, and he was outstanding in this game. In fact, he started the turnaround by drawing a foul on a three-pointer with 12:41 to go. He drained all the freebies for three of his 11 points in the game, and then Tyler Kolek went Beast Mode. He drained three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to knock Marquette back out in front on his way to 4-for-6 shooting from long range in the second half and 19 of his 32 points.

No. 9 Marquette visits Georgetown, aims to keep trends in place – Field Level Media – Professional sports content solutions | Field Level Media – Professional sports content solutions | FLM

While the Hoyas have had a week to recover from their emotional game, the Golden Eagles were busy Tuesday night, winning 85-80 at Villanova as Tyler Kolek turned in a virtuoso performance.

The reigning Big East Player of the Year scored a career-high 32 points to go along with nine assists, six rebounds and three steals. Kolek was at his best when the Golden Eagles needed him the most.

After they blew a 20-point lead, Kolek made four 3-pointers in a span of fewer than three minutes midway through the second half. Kolek also passed to David Joplin for another 3 during the spree when Marquette turned a one-point deficit into a nine-point lead.

“When you have the best player on the court, you typically win,” Smart said. “He showed guts. He showed character. He showed toughness. He wanted to take the big shot.”

Tyler Kolek’s career night helps Marquette survive against Villanova | Journal Sentinel

“We come on the road and they’re yelling I can’t read,” Kolek said outside of MU’s locker room while sipping on one of MU’s signature victory milkshakes. “They’re yelling, ‘Where were you on January 6?’

“All this (expletive). I love that stuff. I walk out, they’re booing me. It’s fun. It’s fun for me.”

MU head coach Shaka Smart is thankful for his headstrong point guard, who has helped lead the Golden Eagles to five straight victories.

“He was the best player on the court tonight,” Smart said. “And I don’t know what the percentage is, but when you have the best player on the court, you typically win.

Inside the workouts that make Marquette’s Oso Ighodaro one of the nation’s most skilled big men | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Every night, Marquette men’s basketball assistant coach Mark Dixon knows the text message is coming from Oso Ighodaro.

The 6-foot-11 big man is meticulous in his approach to getting better. So when Ighodaro looks at his schedule for the next day, he finds pockets of time when he can get into the gym with Dixon to work on developing the skills that have made him one of the most unique players in college basketball.

The wicked crossover dribbles. The pinpoint, cross-court passes. The spin into a left-handed hook. All those moves have been painstakingly worked on with countless reps between Dixon and Ighodaro.

“He pushes me,” Ighodaro said. “He gets me outside my comfort zone to try things.