Marquette bounces back from loss to Wisconsin with easy victory over North Carolina Central
Ben Steele
The Marquette men's basketball team did not overlook North Carolina Central on Tuesday night at Fiserv Forum.
The Golden Eagles were coming off a tough overtime loss to state rival Wisconsin on Saturday, and have their non-conference finale on Sunday at Notre Dame. The stands at Fiserv Forum were dotted with empty seats, so MU wasn't going to get an energy boost from the crowd.
But MU came out firing on all cylinders on offense and cruised to a 90-78 victory over the Eagles.
The Golden Eagles (7-3) raced out to a 9-0 lead over North Carolina Central (5-5) after forcing three straight turnovers on defense.
Soon the lead was 17-4 and starting center Oso Ighodaro had five assists. The Golden Eagles made their first 11 field goals to take a 27-13 advantage with their first miss coming at the 11:15 mark.
BOX SCORE:Marquette 90, North Carolina Central 78
"The thing we were emphasizing a lot to win this game was 'sharp edge', " MU sophomore guard Stevie Mitchell said. "Just to be sharp with everything we did.
"With the cuts we made. With the passes we made. With the defense. With our loads. With getting our hands on the ball. With our mindset. So we just focused on playing our style of basketball and just playing hard and playing together."
Oso Ighodaro sets tone for Marquette with passing
Ighodaro's passing was contagious, with MU racking up 14 assists in the first half and finishing 22 for 29 (75.9%) on field goals. The 6-foot-9 Ighodaro finished with 10 points, a college-high seven assists and four rebounds.
"It's Point Oso," MU freshman guard Chase Ross said. "I feel like if you have a 5-man that can pass the ball, it's very versatile for our team."
Golden Eagles head coach Shaka Smart lauded Ighodaro for getting a "Marquette triple-double" with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 deflections – Smart's prized statistic – against Georgia Tech on Nov. 23.
Is a "Marquette quadruple-double" possible, adding in assists?
"In order to do that, he's going to have to rebound at a higher level than he did tonight," Smart said. "I saw at half that he had five assists, and he had them really early in the half, so he's very capable of getting 10 assists."
Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Kam Jones keep scoring for Marquette
The Golden Eagles have four players averaging double-figures in points, with Olivier-Maxence Prosper (15.5) and Kam Jones (15.2) neck-and-neck for the lead.
Prosper had a highly efficient game against the Eagles, with 25 points on 11-for-14 shooting.
"He plays hard," Mitchell said. "It's a lot of high-quality shots that he takes. And he's very good at getting those high-quality shots."
Jones added 16 points, showing off his all-around game. The 6-foot-4 sophomore even had his first dunk in a MU uniform.
"He amazes me every game, I'd say," Mitchell said. "He just gets better every game. Hits harder shots every game.
"I think he has gotten a lot better at getting to the basket and finish through contact or using finesse moves to get a layup. Making it really hard to guard, because you're going to have to close out on him fast and put a hand up fast."
Smart especially liked Jones' defensive effort.
"He's such a good player," Smart said. "Things come so easily for him, but I appreciate tonight his defensive energy and his defensive want-to on the basketball."
Marquette's lead dwindles in the second half
The hot shooting obscured a few issues for MU in the first half, with the Golden Eagles committing eight turnovers and allowing the Eagles to pull down nine offensive rebounds and put up eight second-chance points.
MU kept the offense rolling at the start of the second half, going up 58-30 in the first few minutes.
But the Eagles cut the lead down to 11 several times late in the game and missed several chances to get within single digits.
"We had some guys that sat and watched for a while at different times," Smart said. "Because they weren't playing good enough on defense.
"I told them after the game, defense is going to get you on the court and defense is going to win us games. So they can internalize that and grow and improve, because they all have it in them, and if they do we'll all be better."
MU's shooting also came back to Earth, going 2 for 13 on three-pointers in the second half after knocking down 7 of 10 in the first.
"That was a spirit thing," Smart said. "I think when you're playing with a sharp edge and you're focused and you have great energy and spirit, the basketball gods take the basketball and they put it in the basket.
"And when you're a half-step off or you're bored with the game or you think the game's over or you don't have that same sharp edge, the basketball gods take that same ball and they make it hit off the back of the rim and make it go out. "
More:Marquette and Wisconsin will play first volleyball match at Fiserv Forum next September