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David Joplin scores career-high 29 points in 80-69 win over Georgia

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David Joplin sure loves his tiny arenas.

Heck, after his career-high 29 points on 9-of-17 overall and 6-of-11 three-point shooting, it doesn’t even need to be an actual arena. A hotel ballroom with a temporary court and bleachers will suffice for the senior forward.

Joplin, who has made a habit of scoring big in smaller buildings like Wintrust Arena in Chicago and the Al McGuire Center on campus, kept that streak going in No. 15 Marquette men’s basketball’s (6-0) Saturday morning 80-69 win over Georgia in The Bahamas.

“He’s the guy, of all of our players, I’ve probably been the hardest on all summer, all fall. You’ve heard me talk about, ‘There’s more meat on the bone for him.’ And there’s going to be games where he shoots the ball well, there’s going to be games where he doesn’t,” head coach Shaka Smart said.

“However, the fact that he was locked in on just trying to help his team in more ways than one, on the defensive end, trying to do what goes into winning. It’s amazing how the basketball gods reward you with made shots when you do that.”

Along with his career shooting day, Joplin grabbed five rebounds and played what has become, this season, his usual aggressive defense.

But he made his presence most felt with the ball in his hands, standing over 22 feet away from the basket, moments from ripping a shot which can only be described as inevitable.

The Brookfield, Wisconsin native got hot immediately, starting the Golden Eagles’ scoring with his first 3-pointer of the game just over a minute after the opening tip. It was an assuredly much-welcome sight for Joplin, who had started the year a lowly 8-for-39 (20.5%) from deep. A sign that the early shooting season woes were going to be just that: early season.

Joplin’s first make was just the start, though, as he went into the locker room seconds after putting Marquette ahead by one, 36-35, with a trey from the logo.

Joplin’s halftime box score read like a Joplin box score would: 12 points, 3-for-6 from deep and 4-for-9 overall — only one made basket coming from inside the arc.

The microwave pull-up shooter was making up for what looked like a classic hotel-ballroom-turned-basketball-court offensive start, in which both teams combined for an unsightly 1-of-15 on threes before the Bulldogs converted from deep.

Along with Joplin, sophomores Ben Gold and Chase Ross did their parts in efficiently converting attempts into makes. The 6-foot-11 Gold finished the game with a college-most 14, going 4-for-9 from beyond the arc, and Ross tied with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

“Inside of our program, we understand that there’s going to be ups-and-downs with shooting, and we feel like Ben has helped us in every single game, even the games where he’s not shot the ball well from outside,” Smart said. “This has been a real adjustment for him to become a starter, becoming a guy that’s playing major minutes, and the way that he’s dedicated himself to the 98% (of the game not related to scoring).

“He got some crucial rebounds early in the game that kind of set a tone for us. And then, we want him to take threes. Today he was 4-for-9. If he can get that many open looks, we’ll take it.”

But the story of the game was Joplin, the Brookfield, Wisconsin native, and his importance in helping the Golden Eagles hold off the charging Bulldogs.

He’s the man who started an 11-0 second half run with a turnaround jumper to give his team a 15-point lead. He’s the one who answered Georgia’s 11-0 response, which made it a one possession game, with a clutch 3-pointer that put Marquette ahead, 69-63. He’s who followed that up with another turnaround jumper on the ensuing possession.

And he’s the man who took the last remaining bit of chicken off the bone and iced the game, scoring Marquette’s final two points from the line with 34 seconds remaining. Joplin scored 17 of his 29 points in the final 20 minutes to get the job done and push Marquette to 6-0 for the first time since 2011-12.

So, what’s that coming down the track?

Well, it wasn’t, as the popular Georgia chant suggests, the “mean machine in the red and black.”

Saturday morning, in the smallest of small arenas situated momentarily on the floors of the Atlantis Paradise Island resort, it was the JopTrain.

All aboard.

This article was written by Jack Albright. He can be reached at jack.albright@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @JackAlbrightMU.